CHARLIE GILLETT

BBC "ON THE WIRE", 25th BIRTHDAY LIVE SHOW

BBC "ON THE WIRE",  25th BIRTHDAY LIVE SHOW
ADRIAN SHERWOOD AND STEVE BARKER PERUSE SOME VIDEO

John Peel, Legendary DJ, Musical Sage and a nice bloke.

THE MISSING JESUS AND MARY

THE MISSING JESUS AND MARY
THE MISSING JESUS AND MARY IN CLITHEROE

Saturday, December 31, 2011

When i consider the realities of the last year and what is likley to happen in the coming year its very difficult to find any reason to laugh. However, having been compared with Woody Allen on many occasions, i think he owes me at least one usable joke. so here goes, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans"  I know its an old one but in truth I am no spring chicken myself and There is definitely a element of tragi-comedy in my own life and if you can still laugh when you are as old as God, maybe there is hope for all of us. I have always imagined that God is also a Radio Four listener so he may also enjoy one of Les Dawsons  finest bon mots which reappeared during
 one of my bluer moments in the countdown to Christmas  According to Les, he still remembers when the Archers only had an allotment.

Not so funny however was the spectacle of Clarkson and his assistant buffoons trying to race the Mumbai train to deliver packed lunches. to workers in the city.  I promise you that these three stooges are about as entertaining as  a trio of sun baked Kerbside quiches.  Each week they become less funny and more insulting, this time trying to get their so called band on an already overcrowded commuter train. If i had  been the guard, i would have cheefully thrown the bastards off at the first stop. A waste of time, space and fuel not to mention the TV license,

Monday, December 26, 2011

FLUORIDE, THE NEVER ENDING STORY

This week, an Official in France has warned against  their breast implants.  Poly Implant Prothese made by a defunct company in France is known to leak cancer-causing silicon, Health Ministry says.  Dubai: The Ministry of Health yesterday advised doctors and hospitals against using silicon breast implants made by a French company which reportedly leak and cause cancer.

A senior official said the advice is a precautionary measure since the implants are not available in the UAE as they are not registered with the Ministry. But he said the advice is if they have been imported here "through other means". This is believed to refer to industrial silicon products not subject to the high quality standards normally required for medical products and thus avoiding meeting the high quality standards.  This may remind followers of the pro fluoride shenanigins that the allegedly "safe and effective " monosodium fluoride, used in toothpastes and other dental products that this is very different from the toxic waste which supposedly helps prevent tooth decay when its added to drinking water supplies.  this is a fine example of the dangers which can  result from failure to maintain standards when corners are cut to save money. How fortunate we are that in the UK, we never cut corners like this and risk peoples health.  So obviously, it can't happen here.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

BBC LOCAL RADIO ALREADY RUINED BY ROSS AND BRAND

After Kelly affair, it became fairly clear that Tony B Liar was axious to get even with the BBC, especially its news services with the result that news services even in Local Radio was savagely cut.  My spies told me that more than a third of news staff were given the boot, even in local radio where there had been little coverage of B Liars exploits, especially coverage of the demonstrations agains the Iraq war,  I was always until then, ready to defend the impartiality of BBC news coverage with a clear conscience but under the cover of the cuts regime this is not so easy.

Since the corrupt Bankers ran off with our money causing a huge crisis and then the British government paid the bankers debts by using our money again the excuse of necessary cuts has been used to reduce staff in virtually  all our public services, including NHS, Councils, and even the BBC. This has resulted in cuts of 30% or so in jobs and never more unfairly that following the Ross and Brand debacle.  This was a major network scandal caused by infantile dickheads on huge salaries who thought it was clever or funny (neither of course) to resort to a tirade of  personalised insults and obscenities because neither the miscreants or their inane programs contained enought wit or intelligence content to excuse any such excursion. This gave the governors and the government appointees the only excuse they needed to make swingeing cuts in content and freedom which in turn affected the BBC Local radio stations very unfairly .  They had not only done no wrong in the first place, they were virtually free to run as many contributors and broadcasters were operating for free or just expensens and then    suddenly found that they needed to employ BBC producers who were staff members to check and sign off local radio programs in case they dared say shit, or fuck or that the BBC locally and nationally were run by psycophants and incompetent .   |Or as veteren and respected broadcaster put it in a cautionary letter to me in a previous contrtemps with Bush House  "Good luck with  your campaign Brian, but i must warn you that you are battling dickheads"  How right he was even then and all the more so now.  








Now such things are common knowledge especially to the poor bastards who live in the Middle East who still have to talk  with him and his ilk.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

CONSERVATIONISTS AND THE LOCAL SYCAMORE - MAPLE TREES

4th December 2011

CONSERVATIONISTS AND THE SYCAMORE - MAPLE TREES

This tree, as much as any other, has been a big source of debate which has tended to split the opinion of conservationists. Some hate it and others defend it with great vigour. I count myself amongst the latter The trees are found widely in Europe and Asia and in our case migrated from Europe to Britain at the end of the Middle Ages. They can grow widely in most parts of the UK but they really came into their own when Dutch Elm Disease spread by the bark beetle destriyed virtually all our Native Elms.

Many individual and neighborhood planting schemes were undertaken, especially during the "Plant a Tree in 73" and "Plant some more in 74 " national campaigns and proved very successful at filling in the voids left by the millions of lost Elms. Our own particular trees are a part of this campaign promoted by Pendle Council. It is a fact that the dense crown can slow or even stop ground flora from thriving and the soil under the canopy tends to be dry and bare but in the case of the Trees in Duke Street, the ground is often water logged during wet weather therefore its drying properties are fairly beneficial rather than troublesome. A sixty food specimen is a very efficient pump and can lift a hundred gallons or more of water per hour from roots to crown. Without the Duke Street trees the green strip could quickly become a quagmire due to lack of proper drainage. Some conservationsts point out that sycamore can alter the structure and thus the eco-system, particularly of birch and alder woods, should it invade such woodland. They insist that the sycamore should be eradicated from semi-natural woodland.

On the plus side the flowers are an important source of nectar for bees and other insects. Aphids are also numerous on the foliage of sycamore thus providing an important food source for birds, particularly when they have chicks to feed. I have also observed long trails of ants which capture the aphids and keep them as a source of food. The seeds are eaten by woodmice especially when other sources of food are in short supply. Many assert that the Sycamore is just a Weed but this is far from the case. Its true that it does seed and spread readily in the right conditions and grows quickly from a sapling. It has been realised that 150 creatures are associated with the tree either for food or in some other connection. Sycamores are robust and can tolerate environments which soon polish off less adaptable species. Consequently they are used extensively as park land and town trees,.

LOCAL HISTORY OF THIS LAND

I moved here in 1980 and observed that the land occupied by the sycamores was little more than wasteland. There was a thick cover of dead brambles and weeds, so thick that grass and plants were not able to penetrate it and grow. Helped by some neighbours we cleared and burned the dead cover. This revealed the ground beneth to be in a very poor state, dozens of bags of dumped waste was collected and removed but this also reveal dumped paint, broken glass, oil, scrap metal, asbestos and old plastic sheeting. This covering was so thick that it was impossible to dig without mechanical help. One of the older residents said that some soil had been brought from the old Tannery site at Ball Grove.We removed some of the more serioius contamination and covered the rest witl whatever soil and turf we could find from the allotments and gardens. We had hoped that the site could be used for growing fruit and veg but in view of the obvious and less obvious contamination, this plan was abandoned and it was decided to simply encourage more grass and turf with wild flowers which would serve as an amenity for the houses on Duke Street.

REMEDIAL ACTION FOR TREES

Of the six sycamores which had been planted, one had already died and another one was clearly destined for the same fate. we pruned and shaped the remaining trees with some degree of success as the trees grew more foliage. Since then they have been pruned twice more and together with other neighbours a hedgerow of thorns and silver birch and beech has been planted. The sycamores have not grown to any great height but are much bushier with the exception of the sycamore at the field end which appears diseased although further pruning may help restore it to some semblence of health. Of the two other sycamores height could be reduced by lowering the crown and further pruning which would allow more light for ground planting. and infil. Having made it this far it would seem unnecessary to cut down or dig up the remaining trees, pollarding is not recommended as this is a cruel and ugly fate for any tree. Even if they are left alone completely, they are unlikely to grow to any great height due to the thin soil cover and previous pruning.

When we arrived in this village most of the gardens had been abandoned due to the uncertain fate of the M65 Motorway but as we have planted and cultivated we have noted a dramatic increase in numbers and diversity of wild birds including song birds and sparrows which have been placed on the RSPB Red List due to rapid decline of numbers. By providing tree and shrub habitat we are continuing this process. We now have regular visitors and residents of specis such as Jays, Wood Pidgeon, Redpoll, Nuthatch, Tree Creeper, flocks of Long Tail Tits, and even Greater Spotted Woodpecker and bats . In terms of habitat and biodiversity, this can only be described as a success and one which we hope to continue to develope. In terms that council officers might understand it is my recommendation that we " Do Minimum," ie, lowering of crown height, prune straggly and diseased branches, and infill with other shrubs and ground cover. I personally applied for Conservation status for this area and all that i am suggessting is that we continue with this process.

The Japanes Maple is now suffering a spreading disease in the UK due to Climate Changebut this is just the tip of the iceberg.  Imported plants have brought diseases that threaten to kill millions of British trees Our obsession with gardening has opened the door to exotic species that bring deadly pathogens and pests.  A bacterial infection called acute oak decline threatens mature oaks in Britain.
In the  south of england Horse chestnuts were being attacked by a bleeding a rust-coloured liquid down its bark last week. As it dried, it left a black, tar-like stain several feet long. Two streets away, another horse chestnut had prematurely shed its leaves in July. A fungal pathogen known as bleeding canker was killing the first tree from the inside, while the horse chestnut leaf miner moth was destroying the second. Neither tree will survive the winter. Plant pathogens are on the rise globally and Britain is susceptible because of our increasingly warm, wet winters and the globalisation of trade, which has enabled us to fuel our love of gardens by importing millions of exotic plants, many of which can arrive diseased



Plant pathogens are on the rise globally and Britain is susceptible because of our increasingly warm, wet winters and the globalisation of trade, which has enabled us to fuel our love of gardens by importing millions of exotic plants, many of which can arrive diseased.



"We now have six to eight organisms in the British Isles that are a real concern. In the 1960s and 70s it was Dutch elm disease, which killed 30m trees; in the 1990s it was a new Phytophthora which devastated alders along river banks. But in the last 10 years we have had as many new diseases as we had in the previous 40 or 50 years," said Joan Webber, principal pathologist at Forest Research, the Forestry Commission's research arm.


More than 3m larches have had to be felled in the last three years to try to stop the spread of an airborne disease called Phytophthora ramorum. Meanwhile, hundreds of cases of a bacterial infection, acute oak decline, have been recorded in mature oaks; a disease called red band needle blight is affecting many conifers; and beeches and ash trees have all come under sustained attack by exotic pests, fungi and diseases. Most are confined to one species of tree, but they can potentially jump species into others.


Tony Kirkham, head of the arboretum at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which has 14,000 trees and has seen many attacked in the last few years, said some of the most serious threats came from the oak processionary moth. These have been seen in Britain before but were first found breeding in 2005 along a stretch of the A40 and in Kew and East Sheen, west London. The caterpillars can cause serious defoliation of oak trees, and weaken the trees to the point that they are prone to other diseases. "This is serious stuff. It will change the landscape of the British Isles if it is not checked.

"It's a very challenging time for anyone who manages trees. Bleeding canker is spreading right across southern England, and is now moving north quickly, as far as Wales and York. Wherever you go in southern England, horse chestnuts are struggling," Even tens of thousands of beautiful Larches are now being felled to try to stem a disease which in only a year has spread from the South West of England, through Wales, and reached Lancashire only last month. All this will have a devastating on the appearance and the ecology of the UK. We must not 0take great care with all the trees we cherish, even the most humble.


FRIENDS OF THE EARTH in PENDLE

Friday, December 2, 2011

EXTRACTS FROM THE FRIENDS OF THE EARTH FLUORIDE NEWSLETTER

D. Mail 29.11.11 “MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN”

A new study by Waterwise - a group that campaigns against water waste - shows that some modern showers waste so much water, their owners would be better off soaking in the bath. According to the study a typical Briton uses 150 litres or 33 gallons of fresh water every day.
LOOS: Nearly 33% of drinking water piped into our homes is used for flushing toilets – 2 billion litres of water every day. Yet it is all treated & chlorinated to make it safe to drink.
BATHS & SINKS: 21% of household water goes on bathing, washing & teeth cleaning.
POWER SHOWERS: 12% of UK water goes on showering.
WASHING CLOTHES: 15% of water is used by washing machines.
WASHING DISHES: 8% of water goes on washing dishes.
GARDENS: 7% of water is used for watering gardens & filling padding pools etc.
DRINKING: Waterwise estimate that much less than 4% of water is used for drinking if waiting for the tap to run cold, over-filling kettles & boiling pans without lids are taken into account.


A great deal of water is used to produce food, clothes, paper, household goods, electricity & cars. This is known as ‘embedded’ or ‘virtual’ water because it’s used to create something else. It takes 170 litres of fresh water to make 1 pint of beer. A cotton T-shirt takes around 4,000 litres of water to make. It takes 2,400 litres of water to produce the animal feed & sustain the cattle needed for just 1 hamburger!

My comment: This shows the folly of fluoridating the whole water supply.)


Ann


BRIAN JACKSON  WRITES.... 

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