More on scams

On the 19th February I wrote about scams and how we should deal with them. I didn't like the idea of emails flying here there and everywhere to prevent scams from spreading, but I can't complain too much about a scam making the news as it did yesterday. It seems that some people in Lancashire have been asked for £100 in order to process their council tax rebate of up to £7000. Now replace Lancashire with any other county. Replace council tax rebate with any other bill that goes out of a household and I have just saved you reading about many more news articles about scams. Basically if anyone is asking for your bank details and then asking for money then alarm bells should ring without the need to be told.

Now take things forward a step or two. A criminal has asked for your bank details and you have given them. Why can't someone, say a police officer, find the criminal and bring them to justice? It should not be difficult to find the person and find the money. If it is dificult then we need to change the banking system that allows criminals to get away with crime. It may even put some of them off from starting a scam.

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P.S. You may like to compare this blog entry with that of the 18th January.

Don't be put off

I was delivering leaflets on Friday and people are taking them off me and recognising them. The recognition is usually good as I get a lot of comments that they are appreciated. Even on Friday I was getting similar reactions except for one. A man rushed out of his house to tell me that this was the third piece of junk mail that he had received that day. I explained that it wasn't junk mail but a means to let him know what was going on and more importantly, a means for him to get in touch with us and take part in the democratic process.

We did continue with political "banter" and at the end he said "all right I'll let you off!. However it did make me think that he was trying to put off people from politics, in particular he was trying to put me off. Still, it takes all sorts and if that's the worst thing that happens...

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Transparency is often the answer

On the third of February I wrote about record keeping at Lancaster Infirmary and yesterday it became an article on the television news. Basically, confidential documents were scattered across the floor of an office (they are just as confidential on the floor) and patients have missed appointments and been given the wrong medication.

The point that I made was that the picture that got things moving had been leaked to the media to highlight the shocking state of record keeping there and it was only by this leak that progress was made. This was confirmed by the director of Operations and Performance when he said that they weren’t quick enough to deal with a growing problem.

If anyone doubts that we should have leaks then think of this story, but there are many other. The answer is really easy – transparency. Why shouldn’t I go and collect my own documents and then take them back and be able to see where they go? If this is really difficult logistically then why not allow the local newspaper to run articles about different sections of the hospital. Most of all, with all the groups who have rights to check on NHS departments, why wasn’t it corrected earlier?

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I told you I was ill and changing the world

I paid a visit to Manchester's People's Museum on Sunday. One exhibit asked me to lift the headstone to find out whose inscription I was reading. I did know some of the answers like spike Milligan's "I told you I was ill" but I had forgotten it was in Gaelic. Another inscription belonged to Karl Marx: "workers of all lands unite. The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it".

By coincidence I watched Angels and Demons on the previous day. The Vatican has just been saved by the heroics of Ewan McGregor but Tom Hanks tells the female scientist, Ayelet Zurer to “go back to work – change the world”. Whatever we do we can all play our part. I am pretty sure that Tom Hanks hasn't seen this blog but don't let that stop you doing your bit to...

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More on Jack Straw

On the 13th January I wrote about Jack Straw's racist remarks which happened to coincide with a byelection in Oldham. On Tuesday Jack spoke about his comments. He regrets using the words "easy meat" when he said that some Pakistani men saw white girls in that light. In fact he was sorry for "the offence people feel I have caused". It sounds like he regrets the fact that others are foolish. I didn't write anything about his sexist comments but if he is highlighting that some people have sexist views then I am not sure why he has any regrets.

My point in January was that Jack was overtly racist. he won't apologise for this, so Jack can point out specific racial problems, say his comments are not racist, not apologise but regret how people misinterpret his remarks. It sound like he is the only person who has done nothing wrong. I will admit to not seeing that Jack said "most sexual offenders were white men", so I'll comment on it now. What is the point of telling us this information? It didn't make a headline and is hardly going to be repeated as a racial slur. His other comments, on the other hand, did have an effect but not for the better. The problem is not that other people may have unjustifiably taken offence at an imagined slight, but that Jack's words constituted a very real setback to race relations. He really needs to see that.

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Train the entrepreneurs

I liked one of the answers on Any Questions last week about how we deal with a lack of jobs in a jobs market dominated by science and technology. It seemed obvious to Susan Greenfield, a scientist,that we need a workforce that is trained in science and technology and she told us that only 17% of students are taking one or more science A levels. Her answer was that we need to encourage our students in this direction.

However she also said that we have 70 graduates for every job. It strikes me that we have enough trained scientists already. Unfortunately it doesn't take much working out to discover that if you take 17% of those 70 graduates you still find that there are 11.9 really well qualified graduates going for each job. Maybe we need a few entrepreneurs before we think about the technologies.

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The benefits of walking

As a physiotherapist I used to give advice on keeping active. "Low-impact aerobic exercise" was a phrase that I used to use. What this means is do enough to get the breathing going and then it is a cardiovascular exercise, but not with the impact that you get on the joints by jogging. In general I think those people who wish to take part in high=impact exercise are healthier than those who don't, but what we should definitely be doing is walking, briskly if possible.

In practice what this means is to park the car at a distance and walk the last mile. This is particularly beneficial if you want to go into the city centre. I parked ten minutes away from Manchester city centre on Sunday. Parking was free. I heard yesterday that the high cost of parking in Manchester is second only to London. Which magazine tells us that it costs £13.20 for four hours in the most expensive car parks.

A few years ago I parked on the street (at no charge) as I walked to the theatre. It took me two or three minutes at the most but opposite the theatre was a car park with a sign that told me it would only cost £12 to park there for the evening.

You can save on parking fees, improve your health and save the environment by driving less. I know there will be some who disagree with this blog. Some prefer to park outside the door and save those few minutes. I hope they think about this saving when they are sat in front of the television falling asleep.

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