crapaudpinion

Review of the Review of the Abuse Inquiry

2011-11-11T10:15:00.002Z

Scrutiny Review - Issues surrounding the BDO Alto Review of financial management of Operation Rectangle

The whole thing is a long read, so let's just start with the end 3 paragraphs from the Chairman's Forward, to sum it all up. I was going to highlight in BOLD all the most eyecatching words, but really I would need to do that to the entire three paragraphs!

Chairman’s Foreword - Deputy Trevor Pitman - summing up -

"... can it really be credible that within a case of unprecedented scale and complexity only two individuals ‘got it all wrong’ and deserve to be scrutinized (many would likely use the term ‘trashed’) within the public eye again and again whilst those at Home Affairs and the senior politicians of the day who also bear significant – if not equal – responsibility attract no such condemnation whatsoever? The sub-panel believes the answer to this first question is no.

"Secondly, and perhaps of even more fundamental concern for us if we are the caring and civilised society that we like to believe: when and how did purely financial matters, no matter how undoubtedly serious, become more important than turning our focus and attention to discovering how our most vulnerable children - instead of being protected and cared for by the States - could actually be systematically assaulted and abused over a period of decades?

"If this review leads to nothing else other than a re-focussing by government, media and society on to this final question then all of the obstruction and sniping that we as a Scrutiny team have been subjected to these past months will have been well worth it."

Read the whole government Scrutiny Review at
http://ricosorda.blogspot.com/2011/11/srutiny-sub-panel-review.html

children
systematically assaulted and abused
period of decades

review obstructed and sniped at

government, media and society
cover-ups

A good journalist would be all over this!

Is the world watching? Does it care?

Jersey. Beautiful island with great people. Ruined by some ignorant selfish a-holes!

Coastal crash - more sloppy reporting

2011-11-07T09:02:00.001Z

The story from Channel 103 radio -

"Three teenagers are being treated in hospital after the car they were in plunged over a cliff in St Martin.

It went over the side of the road between Anne Port and Archirondel just before midnight.

It came to rest upside down against a tree - which stopped it rolling over the sea wall onto the rocks below.

Paramedics and firefighters attended, and two boys aged 19 and 17, and a 15 year old girl were taken to A&E.

The driver suffered a suspected broken wrist but the two passengers are believed to have suffered more serious injuries, although Police have told us they're not critical.

Watch Commander Chris Love said. "These 3 youths have been involved in a very serious incident. However, it would have been a lot worse had their vehicle rolled from its final resting place onto the rocks below."

"Had that been the case specialised rescue equipment and extra resources would have been called for. Emergency crews would have been faced with a more difficult and prolonged extrication, increasing the risk of injuries already sustained"

BBC Jersey also says "between Archirondel and Anne Port".

Only Channel TV correctly reported "near Archirondel".

If you're a radio listener you'd think it had happened near the BBQ area on the headland near La Crete quarry. The only recent damage to the roadside banks that I can see is actually well before that area.

It looks like, heading from St.Catherine's towards Gorey, the driver took this bend (by the old Les Arches) too fast, over-corrected, and failed to straighten up quickly enough to stay on the road.

It's actually on a straight, just after the left-hander, and not where previous accidents have happened at the headland farther on, or just past Jeffrey's Leap on the other side of Anne Port!

On some news website comments pages people are criticising the lack of barriers here, and it does appear to be in the same place (from the same direction) as another from 2010 (BBC).

All in all I'm left with the sour taste of sloppy journalism again - there was no mention of the direction in which they were travelling, or the precise location. And it's sensationalism again too, accidents happen all over the island, but just because it's on a coastal road and NEARLY ended up in greater fall onto rocks, this somehow seems more spectacular and may be more likely to lead to knee-jerk over-reaction.

The fact that several accidents in this region in recent years have all been survived without death shows how much safer it is to crash here compared to hitting walls and large trees at the roadside elsewhere!

Businessmen not fit to govern

2011-10-18T23:27:00.005+01:00

I'm both amused and bored by hearing opinions that we need more businessmen in government - as if their talent for organising one thing translates into organising something entirely different!

I'm sure there will be some of you who disagree, impressed by a flashy businessman's apparent success - in the single endeavour of acquiring wealth. But let's look at some inarguable definitions of business and government -

Purpose of Business
Make money from providing goods or services, squeezing every last possible profit from resources such as assets, staff and customers, employing any means fair or foul (that they can get away with) to beat competition.

Purpose of Government
* Provide regulatory framework for a fair and functional society, making sure laws are suitable and fit for purpose.
* Set tax policy, deciding who to tax, how much, and for what - and how to spend it.
* Provide Public Services to Best Practice standards, balancing the quality of service and needs of the staff against the requirement for best value for money to the taxpayer.
* Regulate and resolve conflicts of interest, such as the wishes of property developers versus the public good.

* Lawmaking is difficult to get wrong to any huge degree - just extend UK legislation to this island and copy anything else sensible. Not many complaints are heard on that one.
* Taxation seems to suit enough people most of the time that it isn't enough of an issue to cause riots or revolutions. People may realise that Zero-Ten and GST are a pain but we know it's complex and if it seems to work for most people, the politicians will get away with it.
* Wastes of public money are what get most of us fired up, unbelievable decisions of Planning, and other conflicts resolved in the favour of friends and accomplices.

Businessmen don't do anything like most of that government work (if any of it!) in their line of profiteering.

Government is entirely a balancing act, always needing to consider multiple conflicting requirements.
Businessmen are only focused upon one side of an equation - making profits for themselves with disregard for any consequences.

It therefore follows that successful businessmen are wholly unsuitable for government! We need fair and wise people who understand that quality of life is more important than pursuit of gross wealth at the expense of others. Our politicians should only have a vested interest in benefiting (along with everyone else) from a happy and healthy society, ensuring that the young are educated enough to perpetuate a sustainable system in an unpolluted environment.

By 'businessmen' (with 'men' in the broad sense ignoring gender) I don't mean small business owners. I have respect for someone who is confident and assertive enough to set up their own business doing what they love, expanding when they can to take on staff who they know well and look after. Those who know that they have a small place in their market and compete fairly to provide a fair product/service and make an honest living from it. I was lucky to be employed by one of these angels myself for many years and appreciated it. Even if they eventually have their heads turned by the temptations of extravagant houses and shiny expensive status symbol motors, on the whole I say fair play to them if they earned it in the long run without trampling upon others to get there.

No, my wrath and disgust is aimed at the Scum In Suits who stab their peers in the back to claw their slimy way up the filthy ladder of boardroom excess. Intelligence misdirected, talents squandered, these wretched creatures are smart enough to appear respectable and articulate, appealing to an easily led electorate conditioned to look up to these 'alpha males' who profit from the misery of others. Their confidence trick is to walk the walk and talk the talk enough to impress the gullible, but their apparent qualities of extreme capability are just a smokescreen for self-serving greed.

Even the Farce blog pointed out : "Unfortunately, business people often struggle in politics simply because they are used to getting things done by issuing instructions to employees, rather than by establishing a consensus of understanding with fellow elected representatives. They also have further cultural problems between business ethics and profit motive and the broad principles of public service."

When you vote, consider the candidates' motivations. Why are they putting themselves forward for the job? Are they driven by a wish to right the wrongs of centuries of mismanagement, exploitation and oppression, outraged by unfairness, keen to steer the island to a better future for all? Or are they just thinly disguised weasels hell-bent on keeping the working class exploited for their elite extravagances?

Remember : "No vote - no moan!"

Your ruination of Portelet

2011-09-21T09:45:00.000+01:00

(Updated Wed 21-Sept-11 with BEFORE photos)

It's in your name. You vote for these greedy idiots!

The holiday camp may have been large but it never dominated the landscape like this.

The wide angle view they don't show you in the media - it looks like a town has expanded to the bay and is about to spill over the cliff.

So out of place it looks like it was photoshopped - sadly this is a genuine photo.

The old holiday camp was set back from the edge, with a swimming pool in front, and wasn't so high and overbearing.

I quite like the interesting design but this really isn't a fitting place for it. It's a travesty to spoil the bay like this.

A few years earlier ...

The holiday village was far less stark, natural colours and no large flat areas...

.. so it sat comfortably in the landscape without drawing undue attention to itself.

You could see the top of the cliff face behind the flat roof, and there was copious greenery all around...

.. closer - and no ugly buildings right on the skyline either.

If we're going to over-develop the bay, call in the Italians for some aesthetic guidance!

(Manarola, Cinque Terre)

After all the Line In The Sand and fuss over Plemont, you'd think they'd learn, wouldn't you? This is what you get when you vote for the money men to look after the island. All they care about is making more money.

The government you deserve. The planning you deserve. The environment you deserve.

Jersey, you voted (or failed to vote) last time for the clowns who will always ride roughshod over the wishes of the real islanders, promoting their interests above ours.

This is a disgrace. A disgusting disgrace. Hang your heads in shame, those responsible. That includes YOU if you never bother to use your vote, or if you choose the 'safe pair of hands' who obviously know what's best because their selfish drives and psychopathic absence of empathy for anyone but themselves has led them to positions of wealth and 'success'. Out of proportion wealth and success comes from greedily leaching inordinate amounts of money from other people - remember that. The rich get richer at the expense of others. Is that a quality that makes for good leaders?

For f***'s sake vote wisely next month or there'll be even more of this selfish rape of our island.

An unconvincing united front.

2011-07-28T09:00:00.001+01:00

I'm amused and bemused -
(as usual - Jersey politics is only good for amusement, it doesn't work effectively for its intended purpose of running the island very well, and those of us with lives too busy to devote 100% to politics haven't a hope of influencing anything meaningful with our feeble minority voting 'power', so we can only watch helplessly from the sidelines and let off steam by running down the States at social gatherings - which, if you believe the Ministers, doesn't happen. Maybe because they don't mix with normal people like I do)

- intrigued, even - by the curious (or not) new found support that Deputy Trevor Pitman is showing for Ted Vibert. Having stood near Ted at a husting or two, hearing his views, observing his demeanor and manners, I would rather let one of those four inch and orange-striped garden slugs crawl along my stomach than vote for the guy to represent me in the Ego Chamber.

Ted, if you recall, caused a rift amongst the 'progressives' at the time of the last by-election (for ex-Senator Stuart Syvret's 'vacated' seat) to such effect that the only political party - the JDA - fell apart with calls of 'Ted being a liability', leaving us the rib-tickling spectacle of Geoff Southern being a party of one! Trevor being one of those who left, for ideological reasons.

Yet we are now supposed to believe that the progressives can all pull together to defeat the Goliath of the Establishment?! Granted, the progressives usually vote the same way on many issues that are perceived to be The Workers v The Priviledged, but they just don't seem to be able to get on - certainly not BETWEEN elections! They make no attempt to draw up a simple manifesto of supporting the underclass, and then stick to it, in a strongly cohesive party. Divided by clashes of politcal personalities (the worst kind!) and subtly different outlooks and motivations, whether it be pure idealism, bleeding heart niavety, union-led sabre rattling, or the Green movement.

They don't even seem to be capable of pulling together in support of the most crystalised issue of the day, when it comes to fighting the system - Stuart's attempt to prove that the island's management is as bent as the road around Westmount Hill. Some of them pick up some aspects of the case and doggedly fight that part of the cause, others pick their parts while barely concealing the personality clashes, and others stay silent for fear of reprisals or losing their seat. There are newcomers who promised at the last election to fight the incompetence of The System who have ended up voting along with the crazier of the ministerial propositions - I have to wonder at their chances of re-election. It would be soul destroying to watch, if I actually believed that there had been a real chance to change anything for the better, but that these hopes had come to nothing. I expected nothing, and haven't been disappointed. It's a shoulder shrugfest as usual. The world is mad, Jersey even more so. I feel helpless, so I just watch and sigh.

While I can see that presenting a unified face to the electorate - divided we fall and all that - is the only way to fight a stronger power, isn't it fundamentally dishonest to con the voters that there's a cosy togetherness that can save the day, when there plainly hasn't been - and won't be once the election is over, once the hustings chairs have been re-stacked and the parish hall floors swept clean?

If Trevor and Ted share a contempt for Stuart's approach, and are close in outlook again, why not rejoin the JDA and be honest about it? Why not work to reform the party (or form an alternative if that's too hard), change its internal systems so that they can come up with a joint manifesto that pleases the majority, and get on with a more believable united front. We would have more faith in an opposition party than we ever can in a mottley collection of bristly and unpredictable individuals all pulling in different directions and in the same heading only now and then, seemingly at random?

Nothing will ever change unless there's a really strong party in which we can have faith. Politicians are, by and large, either selfish slime or more selfless but too complex to work well with others (combined with a massive arrogance personality defect on the whole). It's only when they bury their differences and work together towards a common cause that we can have just a little more belief in any possible effectiveness/efficacy (delete as pedantic).

Come on, provide us some real political entertainment, while we watch here from our comfy chairs with a beer in the hand. Party on!

Hmmm. Yeah. Nothing will ever change.

A Depressed Electorate

2011-04-09T11:02:00.002+01:00

It's hard to explain depression to someone who has never "been there", but those who have will know just how bleak it is. You can get into a state where it simply doesn't seem possible that you'll ever feel happy ever again. Everything seems pointless, frivolous and futile - the concept of enjoying life may work for other people but somehow it can't work out that way for us.

At the extreme, people take their own lives, unfortunately. Nobody really ever wants to kill themself, yet tragically, people do - because they just cannot imagine climbing out of the pit of despair that they've arrived at. Those of you in a happier place imagine that whatever your problems, if it came to the worst you could just walk away from everything - everything you own, everyone you know, jack in that sucky job, and start again. Difficult, to say the least, but better than dying - why give up when you could have another chance at life by starting out all over again, avoiding the mistakes you made last time? Get a flat from our caring States, a simple life with a simple job, make new friends, climb up the tree all over again. How hard can it be, free from previous cares and worries?

A depressed person wouldn't see the point of trying that. To them, life is unfair, lonely, pointless and cheerless, and they believe they would be better off out of it. Reject any chances, because it's all dark and grim and what's the point?

Is it their fault?

Do they deserve it?

If you've never suffered depression I can almost accept the viewpoint that people should just "buck their ideas up" and "pull themselves together" - because that's what it looks like to an outsider. It should be simple enough to just get on with life and weather the storm, shouldn't it? In reality I'd avoid anyone who thinks like that - like the plague. If you've got that little empathy for other people, I don't want you in my life!

Most of us do understand that anyone can find themselves (without seeing it coming) so overloaded with stress and anxiety - if enough things go wrong in our life - that we can find ourselves down in that pit. And most of us are enlightened enough to understand that real depression can be regarded as an illness. Nobody in "their right mind" would ever choose to feel like that. Nobody feeling that bad would ever refuse a way out of it if they seriously believed it would work. If you're constantly suffering and can't help yourself out of it, that sounds like an illness to me.

Depression is about not seeing the true reality, not believing there's a way out. It's a trap. A trap of the mind.

Which brings me on to the state of politics in Jersey, and the seemingly apathetic electorate.

I believe that when it comes to what people think of the States of Jersey and how we're governed, we've had years and years and years of the same old incompetent, self-serving, corrupt government. A politician is someone who combines the normal belief that we know best with such strong conviction and self-confidence that they are prepared to stand for election and inflict their opinions very publicly onto the rest of us.

We don't like that.

We don't respect politicians (not like they think we should!).

We don't like them, we don't like what they do, we don't like how they seek glory, we don't like their arrogance, we don't like them ignoring what we ask for and doing the opposite because only they know better than us with the benefit of their massive insight and understanding which we don't have.

Ugh.

Why would most sensible decent people want to get involved with any of that?

Occasionally a genuinely caring AND self-confident person will come along and put themselves forward in an altruistic attempt to help us all and right the wrongs of the world. Arguably they are charmingly naive, but never mind. On the whole, politicians are deeply flawed people you wouldn't want to be friends with. It's not normal to be so very certain that you know best, to the point of wanting to dictate to others how they should run their lives.

To assess a politician, just ask them whether they want to represent the electorate or vote the way that they feel is right, even if it's in the other direction. Will they ignore petitions? Are the public so stupid? Once they are there in the States Chamber with a mountain of reports of background information at their disposal, they can see and understand issues that the rest of us are too thick to understand, so they must do what's best for us and take those "difficult decisions" because they alone are wise enough to help us in ways we just don't comprehend.

Being voted into power gives them, automatically, the brain power to see The Big Picture - and vote for things we don't want. Apparently we can be trusted to vote for them, giving them legitimate power, having assessed them worthy of election, yet we can't be trusted to understand anything else!

Now, faced with that, you could say that the electorate is depressed. We don't see the point of voting, because we simply don't believe there's any point. Human nature won't change any time soon. Politicians will always be slime-balls (mostly), and the rare decent ones will always be outnumbered, outvoted and ineffectual.

Like a depressed person, we just don't believe anything will ever change for the better, so what's the point?

It doesn't matter that the truth is: that anything is possible if only enough people would get off their backsides and actually make that trip to the polling station. It won't happen because the non-voters are too politically depressed to believe that it could happen that way.

So we get, apparently, "the government we deserve".

I'm hoping you'll get my point now - maybe we don't deserve the government we get. That's way too simplistic, too "black and white". You'd have to be really mentally inflexible to write off the whole situation as one thing or the polar opposite, without seeing the actual reality of the reasons for the grey in between.

Sometimes we DO NOT get the government we deserve. Millions of people around the world certainly don't, their lives blighted by cruel dictatorships and regimes that stifle their freedoms. And it's not always the case that weaponry would be needed, to change matters - recent world events (before Libya) proved that. A dictatorship that isn't totally insane will know when their time is up, given a clear enough hint. An unarmed populace can indeed rise up and change their country, when they believe that it is possible. But it requires that belief, before positive action can happen.

Jersey may appear to offer the so-called democracy that allows us to self-determine the way this place is run, but in reality we're kept in place by those with power, and a political depression that keeps us in our place, unable to believe that there's a way forward.

The government we deserve? It's really not that simple! Nice, decent people can get depressed. Who really deserves that?

And telling us we deserve it? That doesn't really help either! We'll need to believe in a way forward before we can help ourselves.

Until we're ALL, REALLY, mightily annoyed, it's Business As Usual. Helpless as I am, I don't believe it's my fault. So please don't tell me it is!

Jersey - Now 22.7% less "democratic"

2010-10-14T14:36:00.006+01:00

So, after yesterday's vote in the Fun House, we are to (by 2019) lose four of our island-wide elected Senators, bringing down the number of States Members from 53 to 49.

Previously, (as noted here), many islanders had a say in the vote for the 12 Senators, a Parish Deputy and a Parish Constable - which is just 14 out of the total 53 politicians - which is 26.4% of them that we can vote for (some larger parishes have 2, 3 or even 4 Deputies, just to make things even less democratic against single-Deputy parishioners).

Now it will be 8 Senators instead of 12, making it 10 out of 49 we can vote for - now just 20.4% of them.

A drop from 26.4% to 20.4% means that those voters in single-Deputy Parishes now have a say in the make-up of The Bad Decision Factory which is just 77.3% of what is was - a comparative drop of 22.7%
(or if you prefer, the drop of 6 from 26.4 is 6/26.4 = 22.7%)

I believe it's an attempt by the Ministers and their foot stamping followers to shift the balance of power even more in their own favour. Considering the number of Ministers, and Assistant Ministers eager to move up the chain and not ruffle any feathers, it leaves the number of back benchers (our only opposition) even lower and less able to vote effectively against ministerial plans. It leaves the ministers in a position where they can get away with anything they like, as there simply won't be enough members on the opposite side of the political spectrum to prevent votes going their way.

This is, I believe, the beginning of the end for Senators. The same day vote for all posts, and same 4 year term of office for all, means that there is no point standing for Senator - having to please the entire island instead of being able to concentrate on one parish. The Senators & Deputies posts will be switched around in effect, so that the newcomers try to get in as Senator, it will be seen as a beginner's post, no longer seen as a promotion. Eventually, it will fall into such disfavour that it will be done away with.

All this meddling with the system won't put me off voting. I'll still vote for those rare politicians who are blessed with common sense, courage, and selfless motivation... as and when we get some! No amount of tinkering with the electoral process is going to change that particular problem!

End of School Milk, end of Jersey

2010-09-15T15:45:00.002+01:00

States votes to cut school milk
Jersey's government has voted to stop providing free milk in school as part of spending cuts.

I have always thought that this issue served as a useful barometer of whether the States of Jersey (and the minority of voters that elect them) actually cares about the welfare of children and our society in general. With this decision we have finally arrived at the position where it's plainly obvious that we're beyond hope, slipping down a greased slide into oblivion. What hope is there for an island which used to have "money coming out of its ears", that is now so badly mismanaged that we can't even afford to give our youngsters free milk from our world famous dairy herd?

Last one to leave, don't bother switching off the lights, they won't be working by then anyway.

Fireworks or not?

2010-08-24T21:17:00.002+01:00

Would a bit of consistency be too much to hope for?

Fireworks rounded off the Battle of Flowers Moonlight Parade (a little too soon, and a little too far away, but never mind) and also the Gorey Fete.

But hang on - didn't we decide that fireworks are environmentally unsound and best avoided? Didn't the island mess about Terry Macdonald considerably because his record breaking attempt was called off due to green concerns?

Terry has been treated disgracefully (google it if you're unfamiliar with the story!) so I have to wonder - are we happy with fireworks or not?!

How the other half live

2010-08-17T11:44:00.000+01:00

Here's where the Planning Minister lives.

- and here's where other Jersey people live.

Note the contrast?

Nobody said life was fair!

One man has the power to blight our lives by approving the building of monstrosities to ruin the charm of the island so that the rich minority can get even richer.

And today on the BBC phone-in it was made very apparent that lots of less fortunate islanders are enduring poorly heated States-provided housing, freezing in the winter in damp and mouldy conditions. For an island with money coming out of its ears thanks to the finance industry, and more flashy sports cars and status symbol 4WDs than you could comfortably count, and mansions aplenty, it must be obvious that something has gone very wrong with this island!

Privacy?

I did wonder about publishing this blog entry, but with the visit of the Google "Street-view" car in the news, I thought it was timely. The Senator's address is freely available, it's on election papers and it's in the phonebook. I took the photo from a public road, and it's a view anyone can see by going there for themself. I don't have an issue with Google photographing where I live - why should I? I believe in the power of the internet to show us as much as we want to see, within reason.

Broken Memorial

2010-07-01T15:23:00.003+01:00

Does anyone care that the Vega memorial on Albert Pier is damaged?

Can we afford to fix it?

A Little Protest

2010-06-21T13:51:00.002+01:00

Time 4 Change's "Stop the cuts" protest didn't draw a massive crowd...

(caption contest, anyone?!)

OK, to be fair, in the run-up to midday there were about 20 people milling around, and the above shot captured Monty asking them to draw closer. Shortly afterwards there were about 50 assembled...

Wobbly Lines

2010-06-11T15:05:00.001+01:00

I've noticed a number of badly repainted white lines lately - have we lost the art of painting a straight line in the middle of a road, like the sadly lost art of smooth tarmac on resurfaced roads?

Has someone been drink-painting?

It's like a jungle sometimes...

2010-01-20T17:19:00.003Z

.. it makes me wonder how they keep from going under.

Recently announced cutbacks on Jersey Zoo (or whatever they're calling it these days after a couple of name changes - JWPT/JZ/D) staffing levels look like the begining of the end. How sad.

Fellow local blogger Tony today had this to say about entrance fees
tonymusings.blogspot.com/2010/01/durrell-and-membership-fees

I know I can do a great impression of a skinflint at the best of times, but I really do balk at that price to get in the place, even when taking into consideration the Good Cause aspect of it all.

Many's the time where I feel like a nice walk around the peaceful gardens and a look at the animals, even if I'm on my own with an hour or two to spare I'd have a nice stroll around, see if I can get some nice photos, but 13 quid is too much for a pleasant walk compared to the free scenery on offer elsewhere.

Surely the huge turnout at the free entry day last year proved that demand was there but that price had been a barrier? I suppose that brighter minds than mine have done the sums and who am I to question their policy, but is there really nothing that can be done to tempt the locals up there more often? Discount vouchers for repeat visits within a number of months, for example? Anything that makes people think that they're getting a good deal and that would help to get people into the habit of going there more often - would be a good thing.

If they can't depend upon us locals to support them, then the writing's on the wall. As Tourism is a faded shadow of its former self, and I suspect that an attraction like the zoo absolutely depends upon the levels of mass tourism we used to enjoy but no longer see... then it's hard to escape the conclusion that the show's over before much longer.

We have a great place there, fellow islanders.... and we're in danger of losing it. Place your bets on how many years it will be before they say enough is enough and close it down. Will it follow in the Living Legend's footsteps (and numerous others) and revert to a private manor house with a luxury housing development around the sides before long? Will we moan about it? Will we do anything to prevent that outcome? Will the States do ANYTHING to halt the complete destruction of Tourism and actually support what little we have left?

I think we can easily guess the answers there. This rock gets worse year by year!

Rallying Cry

2009-12-08T10:01:00.000Z

Someone in the JEP was criticising the Jersey Rally the other day, saying that so many miles of public roads shouldn't be closed for motor racing enjoyed by so few people, proportionally per head of population.

Let's examine this. How many people enjoy the rally? Apart from the drivers and navigators themselves, organisers and numerous unpaid volunteer marshalls, we can only guess how many spectators there are. The Victoria Avenue stage was reported to have three to four thousand people enjoying the action (on a chilly damp evening), and other stages usually have plenty of little crowds assembled at good vantage points. Let's take a guess at 5,000 out of 90,000 islanders, and as we're guessing we'll be generous and round it down very slightly to 5.5% of us. Personally I think that may be a bit low, but I'm going for most believable credibility here.

Now, a quick websearch revealed that Jersey has about 350 miles of roads. So, proportionally, if our JEP commentator believes that it would be fair to close 5.5% of Jersey roads, then that accounts for about 19 miles worth.

Now, I welcome being proved wrong, but the two or three stages active at any one time during the rally don't really appear to be 19 miles long, even taking into consideration all the through-routes temporarily blocked off, most of which do remain passable for access to premises.

So, nice try Mr Anti-Rally, but your sense of scale and proportion is somewhat lacking. Better luck next time!

Set in Stone

2009-09-19T22:47:00.003+01:00

Was there really any need for his name to be immortalised in stone for this? Discuss!

Blog fault

2009-09-18T10:43:00.000+01:00

Why aren't my latest postings showing up on other blogs via RSS properly? A much older entry is showing up instead!

This is problem has been reported by many people some time ago (see 'support' forums), and yet nothing has been done to fix it. In the editor to define the list of other blogs displayed here, many of them have a red cross with no explanation of why or what it means. Removing a blog address and adding it again makes no difference.

Until blogger/blogspot shows a bit more commitment, then I shall have to deduce that they don't really care, and treat the service accordingly. No more blogging until they get their act together.

Waiting....

The Ann Court question

2009-04-27T17:28:00.000+01:00

Some 'white skies' pics from a dull day...

Along Providence Street to Belmont Road...

Looking left, halfway along... down Minden Place, with newly extended al fresco area on the right at the Arts Ctr.

.. and to the right, looking into the boarded up Ann Court.

Around into Ann Place, and the ironically named "No to the car park!" campaigner Ms. Storey lives on the left here... far be it for me to think... NIMBY! (NOT IN MY BACK YARD!)

Opposite Mary Ann Mews...

.. looking back right...

.. and forwards to the right again...

At the junction with Ann Street.. (I quite like the wide-angle leaning buildings effect actually)

.. looking back down Ann Place - note that the mews residents are OK for parking with their secure gated area!

My opinion is undoubtably worthless, but, correct me if I'm dense but surely towns developed for trade purposes, with people choosing to live there for convenience? Trade depends upon access, and, currently that access depends upon parking because we don't live in some communist hell hole and funnily enough we in the western world are generally free to provide our own personal transport if we can afford it. So we drive cars. A town that needs consumer 'footfall' therefore needs parking. Parking has to go somewhere. And I don't believe that people have an automatic God given right to live close by to ammenities - otherwise sheltered housing in the middle of nowhere would be banned in all the other parishes... and that's clearly not the case.

Bearing all that waffle in mind, I would say... I think this is the ideal location for a town park, if this part of town really needs one. Keep/rebuild Minden Place as nobody really benefits from a new open area there, develop parking in Gas Place where the residents are fewer and far between and already used to it, and Snow Hill would be a great place for a new multi with the added side effect of solving the access problem to Fort Regent.

But what do I know? :)

On-street Parking - NEW!

2009-03-15T11:18:00.002Z

I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming - there's a new section of parking in Hill Street!! In recent years we've lost so many spaces because the Powers That Be seem to hate personal transport and want us to all add to the congestion driving around and around looking for those elusive spaces, pavement widening schemes like Conway St for example........ so it's a welcome surprise to actually find new parking. I'm even more amazed because I thought that the stretch there was part of a cycle route scheme against the traffic flow. I'm actually wondering if the Constable knows about it :)

Well done to the Parish of St.Helier, common sense at last. Hill Street used to be two lanes there, when traffic could turn off to the right by the church, so there was obviously room for parking as you have now finally proved.

Vile Blogs

2009-01-06T18:38:00.004Z

As there seems to be some controversy about us plebs daring to have our say online, I'd just like to point out that there's nothing much to fear from me! In fact, I'm a getting a bit bored of blogs and forums (apart from one or two).

I toyed with the idea of scrapping this one, but I'll probably keep it for the occasional viewpoint here and there when I feel the need to get something off my chest.

As for local politics, I can't say I'm entirely impressed, but do concede that it could all be a lot worse. If issues are raised, the public are consulted, debate takes place, and votes are cast by elected representatives, then that's about the most reasonable system I can imagine. The problem is that the public are not often consulted, or the representatives don't pay any attention - but that's the electorate's problem if they don't bother complaining in numbers or turning out to vote.

In my leftie family I'm sometimes jokingly called a Tory because once upon a time in one of my more cynical moments I made a comment that right wing politics were more likely to work and find favour with the public because they are in tune with the dominant selfish side of human nature, but these days I am indeed veering away from my balanced middle of the road position and I'm starting to follow the family background by leaning more to the left, naively possibly, hopelessly idealistically maybe, because I'm so fed up with injustice and greed.

I could be tempted to support any moves to upset the old boys network, just because it seems the right thing to do. But I'm too wary of hassle, too lazy and unlikely to do anything about anything, except make comments here online to the extremely small audience who may chance across them. I'm just as guilty as almost everyone else of not wanting to rock the boat and draw unwanted attention to myself.

So don't worry about me being one of those "despicable enemies of free speech" (as the JEP calls them - stretching things quite a bit!). No satire here. No ribbing. No insults.

The worst I can do is shine a light on something, moan about it not being as good as it could be... and use my vote. That's not so vile, is it?

Secret Ballot for CM

2008-12-01T10:05:00.002Z

I can't see any good reason for the Chief Minister election to be a secret ballot. The main reason usually given seems to be one of embarrasment if someone ends up having to work under a CM that they didn't vote for, etc.

Personal reasons.

I say that if these people can't put personal isssues aside, then they shouldn't be in the house.

Any CM candidate who can't handle people who may have voted for another candidate should NOT be putting themselves forward for the job. Any States member who's too ashamed to let the public know who they vote for? They don't have the courage to deserve their seat in the chamber.

Will we ever have open and transparent government when this kind of BS is going on?

Every vote counts!

2008-11-27T10:16:00.002Z

Remember this...

Deputies Election 26th November 2008, St. Helier district 3
Ben Fox 698 - elected
Suzette Hase 697 - unelected

Every single vote makes a difference. Many times I've been tempted to avoid the polling station, thinking that my one vote wouldn't really matter. So far this has been true, but the result above does show that we all count.

Remember to tell people that when they say they can't be bothered to vote because it never makes any difference! :)

New blog - a place to have your say

2008-11-17T16:52:00.002Z

An alternative to leaving comments on Stuart's blog, if you require one.

http://crapaudverload.blogspot.com/

Anonymity guaranteed. All sane comments published, no matter which side you're on! I will also keep the list of local blogs as up to date as possible, so it'll be a handy daily way to see what's new on the local blog scene.

Main requirements - keep it clean and don't expect me to defend it in court!

Use it or lose it, as they say :)

How to put web links in blog comments

2008-11-17T11:30:00.004Z

It's a lot easier than you think.

First, a simple example to show how tags work, using < and > which are accessed from the comma and full stop keys when pressing shift.

Italics

If we put tags around some words, it switches on italics mode from the first tag and switches it off again when it reaches the tag.

If your blog comment contains some words like this, then when the comment is published those words will be in italics like this.

Bold

If your blog comment contains some words like this, then when the comment is published those words will be in bold like this.

Web Links

To put a click-able web link in your comments, use <a> "Anchor" tags :
use <a href="http://your.web.link/">the words you want to be the link</a> for this.

An <a>and</a> around something will make it appear in blue, underlined etc (whatever your browser preferences have been set to). It won't link to anything yet, though. We need to put the weblink in. This is done by putting HRef="the web address" inside the first <a> tag (HRef means Hypertext Reference - uppercase doesn't matter, so HRef Href href all work).

The web address is easily snatched from the web browser's link bar. Go to the webpage you want to share with us, click in the address bar so that the web address (http://something...) is highlighted, and press the Ctrl key and then C at the same time to make a copy of this invisibly behind the scenes (you won't get any confirmation of this) into the Windows 'clipboard'.

When you come to write your blog comment, use Ctrl+V to 'paste from the clipboard' and that saved address will magically return and be inserted into your comment.
It's easier to start with <a href="">the words you want to be the link</a> and then go back to the point between the "" and insert the link then.

When you preview your comment you can check that it has indeed worked, before you click to publish it. In fact if you click the link while pressing the shift key, it will open in a new window to prove it has worked.
Simple as that!

Note for the curious

How did I get <> to appear here, then?
There are a series of & codes that show as particular characters. Putting gt or lt (greater than or less than) after a & makes <> appear in the rendered web page.

Black is cool

2008-11-08T14:18:00.002Z

I thought I'd take time out from the political whinges to suggest something constructive for a change :)

Have you ever noticed how popular the black number plates are on Guernsey cars? Lots of motorists over there prefer them because they simply look better than garish yellow or bright white. A matter of taste and style maybe, but we call know how people are prepared to pay for that - even something as trivial (on the face of it) as having a J number with fewer than 5 digits.

So how about our motoring authority gets the chance to make some money for States coffers by letting us pay to have black plates? It can't be against any international rules and regulations if Guernseymen get away with it on new vehicles, so there doesn't appear to be any legal reason not to.

It certainly adds to the charm of a visit to Guernsey in some small way by making the place subtly different. Even if it's not a massive difference, most people will still notice it. Different. Difference is good to a visitor. Like blue postboxes, but that's another story!

With the state of our Tourism industry, we should seize any minute chance we get to be different and memorable.

OK, so it would be hard to police with ordinary J numbers - but if it only applied to the auctioned JSY plates, that would make those even more desirable.

Might as well rake in lots of dosh from willing motorists, yes?

Our so-called 'democracy'

2008-11-05T10:09:00.003Z

Islanders resident in four parishes will not be able to partake in the forthcoming Deputies elections, as their single candidates have been returned unopposed.

This means that in the last 3 years they have only been able to vote for 6 States Members (Senators) out of the 53, and maybe a Constable if they were lucky.

Many islanders will soon be able to have their say in who their 14th representative will be (out of 53). That's it - 12 Senators, 1 Constable and 1 Deputy - out of 53 in the chamber. We don't even have political parties such that at least we'd feel that we'd had a reasonable say in the makeup of the rest of the house - the other 39 members beyond our control.

It gets worse. Residents in one of St.Helier's districts actually get to vote for FOUR Deputies! (and other townies get 3 votes, or 2 in parts of St.Saviour and St.Brelade, St.Clement and St.Lawrence). Somehow because of a 'postcode lottery' these particular voters have more say in island affairs than the rest!

What a truly bizarre system we have. No wonder I'm not bothering to turn out this time. What real difference can I make? Whoever I could vote for, it doesn't really have a great deal of influence on much at all, does it?

Stealing from the elderly

2008-10-28T19:53:00.002Z

Isn't it great to live in a society which steals from the old?

All our working lives we contribute to a Social Security health insurance fund. We get sick here and there, our healthcare is paid for. We get old, need to move into a home and what happens then? They charge us for it!

What's the difference? If you're working and you're in hospital unable to fend for yourself, no charge. But if you're being cared for indefinitely, suddenly that makes all the difference. Goodbye all those savings. Goodbye house. Goodbye leaving something to the children and grandchildren.

Bit of a lottery, this life, isn't it? Some people get to leave their hard earned carefully saved funds to their kids, some don't. All based upon the random chance of how their final years are passed - needing care or not.

At this point I can feel some resentful people saying "Why should we pay for people who can afford to pay for their care?". The answer is simple. You're confusing apples and oranges. The ability to pay is irrelevant. In a fair and just system that's not even in the equation. That's a taxation matter. If you resent some people being wealthier than others, then deal with that by taxation somehow. Don't penalise people for having savings and having the nerve to become infirm!

This disgusting state of affairs needs to stop. Which of our politicians are going to do something about this? I'm furious for a friend of mine whose mother is facing losing all the savings she has to keep her going through her old age (and was hoping to leave to her grandchildren) because her husband is now in a home. As if she hasn't got enough stress learning to cope on her own, without finding that Social "Security" won't be happy until she's down to her last x thousand and then has to claim welfare back from them. And to rub salt into the wound, when she passes on they will claw back her husband's care costs from the sale proceeds of her property!

This is outrageous!! For heaven's sake Jersey, do something about this. I'm appalled.

You may as well sell up when you retire, live it up on high living and cruise around the world until you have nothing left, and then turn up at the States doors and ask them to look after you. Might as well get some enjoyment out of your savings. Otherwise they'll get taken away from you. Thieving scum!

Makes you proud to be a Jerseyman, doesn't it? .....

... no.

The public have spoken?

2008-10-18T12:02:00.002+01:00

Here is a graphic representation of how many people voted this autumn in the election for Senators (click on the picture for a larger and more readable version).

The numbers used are accurate enough for this purpose, taken from official figures - but because a census is rare these days, I needed to project the population forward to 90,000 and the number of people of voting age turned out to be around 74,000. Of these, just about three quarters are actually registered : 55,142.

The 44% turnout of registered electors is therefore just 33% of the total number of islanders of voting age, and 27% of the total population including minors.

It should be fairly easy to get a good sense of proportion about the number of votes cast for the six newly elected Senators.

For example, 6th place with 8.5 thousand votes out of a population of 90,000 only means the support of about 9.5% of us. Less than 1 in 10!

Good representation we have, isn't it?

So don't get down and miserable about how the people have spoken. Truth is, most of them haven't!

The choices that voters have made are not worth getting despondent about - the fact that so few people voted at all is the sad aspect of this.

Anti-spin

2008-10-16T10:13:00.004+01:00

Frank is putting his usual spin on the election results, saying that it shows that the public have chosen stability and endorse the ministerial system.

Ha! Excuse me, but the poll topper is a new candidate who stood on a platform of calling for change, and the second place went to a Deputy most known for opposition and Scrutiny work.

Of the three ministerial Senators, one lost his seat and the other two limped in low down in the second half of the six, not very far ahead of the JDA and independent runners up. In St.Helier, with the largest number of voters, JDA party candidate Geoff Southern came third.

And all this with a turnout of just 44% - with most of the six newly elected candidates getting less than half the number of votes each as the 19,000 who signed the ignored GST petition.

The public have spoken. It is very far from a ringing endorsement of recent government performance.

Landslide victory for the Apathy Party

2008-10-16T09:28:00.003+01:00

Poll topper Ian Le Marquand secured 14,238 votes from a total possible electorate of 55,142 - just 25.8%

6th place Sarah Ferguson got in with just 15.5%, just ahead of Mike Higgins with 13%

Let that be a lesson for those who can't be bothered to vote. Even if a fairly small proportion of them had actually turned up, the results could have been drastically different.

So why do they not bother? That's a matter for proper research by opinion polls, but every time I find I'm speaking to someone who won't vote it's because they say : "What's the point? It won't change anything. They're all as bad as each other and do what they want once they're in, breaking all their promises."

It is never : "I'm happy enough with things as they are".
It is always : "What's the point?"

Sure, it's a lot better than a brutal dictatorship, but our version of democracy is resoundingly rejected by a large majority.

Isn't it time we tackled that?

Odds stacked against change

2008-10-15T23:58:00.004+01:00

The whole system is arranged to keep a stable status quo, isn't it? With the position of Senator being a senior one with twice the length of term as a deputy, it's a sure bet that new faces will hardly ever enter the states via this route. Deputies are the way in. Yet we only get to vote for a tiny minority of those, and have to trust our fellow islanders in the other parishes and districts to do the right thing with all the others.

Is that fair? Do we need a senior position at all, if it keeps new faces out? I support an island wide mandate, but really don't see the need for the two-tiers, the different lengths terms, the seniority aspect. New faces would stand a much better chance of being given a chance if there wasn't such a distinction. I'd like to see a system suggested some time ago of only one position : 5 year term Senators with an island wide mandate, 8 elected each year, 40 of them in total. I'm ambivilant about Constables, I think their parishes elect them for a dual role, and that's fair enough. They are more grounded and in touch with reality than politicians in their ivory towers who never see how people really live at grass roots level. You could say they should stand for each role seperately on their own merits, but I like the way at least 12 people in the chamber are guaranteed to know how the average person is affected by States decisions.

Maybe the deputies system isn't so bad after all. Maybe I should rethink my distaste for having so little say in the make up of The House. If you view an election, Jersey style, as something of an opinion poll with a large enough sample size (total number of votes) to make the results statistically fair and accurate, then it could be argued that it's fair enough if all islanders are likely to think the same way about any specific candidates. A small sample from just one parish is likely to be the same as an island wide one (or is it? is it more easily skewed by friends and family? Is there really a significant difference between country and urban parishes?)

Usually, with an opinion poll, the sampling is done randomly with people selected by the pollsters... whereas with our elections it is a self-selected sample of people who want to vote. Does that affect the outcome? I'll leave that to any experts on statistics who may happen to read this by some fluke and consider it worth a reply (and I'll hold my umbrella up in case of flying pig droppings).

Right... I've had enough, my bed is more inviting than waiting for the final results.

Update, the morning after...
I now define Jersey democracy as :
A democratic system dominated by apathy, based upon a majority of politicians facing election in 12 seperate popularity contests with statistically unsound small and self-selected samples, with low turnouts.

Election figures, and parties...

2008-10-15T22:44:00.004+01:00

Looking at the figures after just 5 results, it looks like most of the runners up are statistically in a bit of a bunch (that's a technical term!) apart from the tail-enders who are the only ones we can really say have been told that they're no-hopers by the electorate (this time).

The rest of the runners up should accept the disappointment this time around and resolve to raise their profile for an attempt as deputies.

Given the way the island usually votes, ending up amongst the middle of the Senatorial pack is a sign you're doing something right, at least.

As for the parties, it doesn't seem to be panning out that it's made much difference, with a spread of party or non-party candidates amongst the runners up. One thing is clear : even a party member candidate is prefered to a relative unknown or a beardy green!

Not exactly a total rejection of party politics, is it?

VOTE!

2008-10-15T11:14:00.003+01:00

Just vote!

From now on, when I hear anyone moaning about the States, I will stop them and ask if they ever bother voting. If not, I will refuse to listen.

If enough whingers get off their backsides and make a quick trip to the polling station to vote for change, it CAN happen.

"But voting never makes any difference" they whinge....... maybe so far, but ONLY BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE CAN'T BE A***ED!

Put up or shut up! :)

Possessive Parishes

2008-09-19T12:16:00.004+01:00

Parish-named places - why are there so many unnecessary plurals or apostrophes? You never see Jersey's Something-or-Other... or Jerseys Doodads... it's Jersey Pottery, Jersey School of Corruption or whatever - like you see London Business School, Wibblesworth College or Fulchester Rovers, etc.

In the phone book, Grouville places don't need an s, and Trinity's School would look silly too, when Trinity School sounds perfectly reasonable. So why do the saints parishes (parishes named after saints, as opposed to saint's parishes belonging to them!) get so inconsistent?

St. Catherine is the place, not St. Catherines or St. Catherine's.

St. Brelade is the parish. Parish of St. Brelade. You want to name a bowls club after it? St. Brelade Bowls Club. Simple. So why do we get St. Brelades Church, College, Parish Hall, etc? (without even the apostrophe?!)

St. Helier seems to be well used - all as it should be - with no St. Heliers in the phone book.

St. Malos Town Center would look and sound horribly wrong, wouldn't it?

I reckon that if it's named after the saint then an 's is correct, but if it's named after a place that is named after a saint, then the name on its own should be used, unmodified.

St. Martin School sounds more logical to me. You'd think a school of all places would get it right!

Vote 4 Senators, not Deputies?

2008-09-15T10:55:00.005+01:00

(Updated since first posted)

For some time now I've felt that voting has been a waste of time. There are 53 members of the States, and how many do I get to vote for? 12 Senators, 1 Deputy, and a "Connetable" if I'm lucky and someone contests the post.
14.
Out of 53.
My calculator reckons that's 26.4% of the house I can vote for - only just over a quarter of them.
Wow.
Remind me why I should bother voting?

Many of the things that really irritate me - meddling changes to St.Helier - are beyond my control. I may spend about half of my waking hours in town (being an office worker) but because I live in another parish I have no say in who the Constable is, let alone the rest of the parish appointed Roads Committee, etc.

I would have to be really stressed about any particular issue to directly contact any of the States Members.... but the fact remains that I shouldn't have to... I should have been able to vote for them in the first place.

I firmly believe that an Island Wide Mandate - Senators - for all States Members - is the way forward. I admit it would make voting tricky, with absurdly long ballot papers unless the terms could be overlapped in time with a certain number up for election each year, but at least that would keep politics in the public eye and keep issues fresh if there was an election every year.

I can't imagine convincing enough people...
.. but I feel I must protest somehow.

And the way to protest is as follows...... if we have two different elections this year, one for Senators and one later for Deputies...... then all we need to do is turn out in force for the Senatorial election and stay well away from the Deputies.

Obviously it would take a lot of like-minded people to participate for this to affect the results enough to make a noticeable difference.

But it's worth a try. What better way to register a protest about unreasonable undemocratic representation?

I'll vote for Senators. But not for a pointless Deputy (just one of 53). Who's with me?

Update:
I've seen the error of my ways. Looking at it from an angle of the democracy depending upon 12 different opinion polls, it's vital that every elector plays their part and has their say, no matter how few candidates that's for. If everyone does their duty, then the sample sizes can be almost reasonable and the overall result isn't as bad as I originally thought.

I'm very much in favour of voting. We're lucky that we can, are we not?

All the dissatisfaction people have with our government is entirely due to their own collective apathy. We truly do all suffer from the government the apathetic majority deserve.

GST on Air Display programme!

2008-09-10T18:18:00.002+01:00

I always buy a glossy programme for the air display, important to support the worthy cause and all that. So I popped into the newsagents in Bath St on my way past, grabbed one and put a fiver on the counter. As I was putting my wallet away and was about to leave, the assistant asked me for the further 15p....... GST!!
As she already had my fiver and I was holding my purchase it felt a bit too late to complain (and 15p wasn't going to ruin me), so I paid the extra charge wearily and left.
But the principle of the thing has annoyed me. Taxing the worthy cause? Whatever next?!
I think the States should make a donation to compensate, at the very least.

Next year (if there's a display next year) I will buy one from somewhere where the States don't get their greedy paws involved.

Ferry Fair?

2008-09-09T17:19:00.002+01:00

Is it very fair to expect a ferry company to operate all year around, when only the summer months are profitable? Why must they take a financial hit in the winter, being bullied into only being able to keep their ramp permit if they provide a service all year long?

Surely in the classic free market the abundant times should be available to all comers with open competition, and if the winter time is loss-making than the States should - if they insist upon having a service provided - put those months' service out to tender and subsidise it?

*cough*buses*cough*millions*ahem*

Or am I missing something? (I daresay I could be... so let's hear from you....)

CM - is the unwanted job worth having?

2008-08-20T13:05:00.000+01:00

In the UK the job of Prime Minister is highly prized, being seen as a real accomplishment of great prestige. A great many politicians no doubt aspire to move into Downing Street and take their place in history rubbing shoulders with other emminent world leaders.

In Jersey? Nobody seems to want the top job of Chief Minister! Why is this?

Not worthy?
Are they all suffering from such low self esteem that they think they're not good enough? With my opinion of politicians I don't think that's likely.

The Job doesn't appeal?
Surely not - with politicians generally appearing to be more "up themselves" than even the most repulsive Big Brother show contestant, I can't believe they would pass up the chance to obtain such status and to lord it over us and the rest of The House.

Don't challenge the prefered candidate?
This is more like it. The Establishment Party has already decided who's best for the job, and the other politicians fall into line and don't dare to challenge the Chosen One. This is plainly wrong for democracy and should shine a light on the state of politics in the island for even the most brainwashed head-in-the-sand believer that Everything Is Just Fine.

It isn't Just Fine.

If the job of Chief Minister isn't something that a number of politicians are clamouring for, then how can it be worth having? It is just another appointment by The Oligarchy if the position isn't openly contested.

So - what are the real reasons, dear States Members, for no-one running against the sole candidate already titled Deputy Chief Minister?

Nanny State caught napping

2008-08-19T09:47:00.000+01:00

Considering just how many things we're banned from doing just in case something exceptionally unlikely should happen, I'm absolutely amazed that the Powers That Be would allow a high powered racing car to gun it down the crowded Battle of Flowers arena, just feet away from children sitting on the kerb.

OK, so mechanical failure was unlikely in a highly engineered and well maintained Formula Renault car. Lapses of concentration or judgement were a tad unlikely for an experienced driver, and sudden health problems are quite unlikely in a fit young man. But if ever there was a case for the chance of a youngster suddenly running out or the consequences of a mishap being very dire indeed - this must have been it.

If you saw the report on the telly you'll have seen how Mr Walker was accelerating as impressively and noisily as fast as he could, the back end was skittishly scrabbling for grip, and he was obviously fighting to keep it under control in a straight line. All this just inches away from crowds. Quite amazing, in this day and age!

Forgive me for spotting double standards a mile off, but if I ever get a ticking off for 'dangerously' accelerating hard I will be sure to remember this one.

Welcome

2008-08-05T16:54:00.000+01:00

Welcome to crapaudpinion.
I had previously thought I'd stick to the photos and videos and leave my personal opinions out of it (apart from the odd comments here and there), but then I thought up the c***opinion name and thought I may as well grab it before anyone else does (not that it's likely!).
So if I need to vent on any subjects, here's where it will happen.
I'm not expecting much of an audience or a huge amount of comments, but it's good therapy to let off steam isn't it?