GRUMPY OLD MAN

I am off to Paris for a few days and cosequently the next post to this blog will be on Wednesday 1st April.

Please come back then.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, one of the most arid places on earth

Jin Mao Building, Shanghai, China, a view of the Oriental Pearl Tower from the 56th floor

WATCHING THE PLANES GO BY

Terminal 3, Changi Airport, Singapore, planespotters' paradise

Dune 45, Sossusvlei, Namib Desert, one of the world's highest sand dunes in one of the oldest deserts on Earth

Mumin Papa Café, Akashi, Japan, built into an aquarium

It's OK, if you don't mind the fish staring at you.

Tengboche Monastery, Nepal, with a view of Mount Everest

(Independent)

Council leaders have compiled a banned list of the 200 worst uses of jargon, with "predictors of beaconicity" and "taxonomy" among the worst horrors.

The Local Government Association says such words and phrases must be avoided for staff to "communicate effectively".
Cliches such as "level playing field" and inscrutable terms like "re-baselining" have been prohibited.

LGA chairman Margaret Eaton said: "The public sector must not hide behind impenetrable jargon and phrases."
Local and central government are often criticised for their use of language.

The LGA's list includes suggested translations of some terms, such as "measuring" for the civil servant's favourite "benchmarking", "idea" for "seedbed", "delay" for "slippage" and "buy" for "procure".

For most, though, no explanation is forthcoming or, perhaps, possible.

Town hall workers are urged not to use the words "mainstreaming", "holistic", "contestability" and "synergies".

The French word "tranche", meaning "slice" in conventional English, is also banned.

Ms Eaton said: "Why do we have to have 'coterminous, stakeholder engagement' when we could just 'talk to people' instead?

A Plain English Campaign spokeswoman said: "This gobbledegook has to go. Jargon has its place within professions but it should not be allowed to leak out to the public, as it causes confusion.

"It could even be used to cover up something more sinister. Churchill and Einstein were both plain speakers and they did OK. Councils should follow their lead

(Abridged from BBC News)

THE FULL LIST OF 200 BANNED WORDS:

Here is the full list of 200 words which the
Local Government Association says should
not be used by councils:

Across-the-piece
Actioned
Advocate
Agencies
Ambassador
Area based
Area focused
Autonomous
Baseline
Beacon
Benchmarking
Best Practice
Blue sky thinking
Bottom-Up
CAAs
Can do culture
Capabilities
Capacity
Capacity building
Cascading
Cautiously welcome
Challenge
Champion
Citizen empowerment
Client
Cohesive communities
Cohesiveness
Collaboration
Commissioning
Community engagement
Compact
Conditionality
Consensual
Contestability
Contextual
Core developments
Core Message
Core principles
Core Value
Coterminosity
Coterminous
Cross-cutting
Cross-fertilisation
Customer
Democratic legitimacy
Democratic mandate
Dialogue
Direction of travel
Distorts spending priorities
Double devolution
Downstream
Early Win
Edge-fit
Embedded
Empowerment
Enabler
Engagement
Engaging users
Enhance
Evidence Base
Exemplar
External challenge
Facilitate
Fast-Track
Flex
Flexibilities and Freedoms
Framework
Fulcrum
Functionality
Funding streams
Gateway review
Going forward
Good practice
Governance
Guidelines
Holistic
Holistic governance
Horizon scanning
Improvement levers
Incentivising
Income streams
Indicators
Initiative
Innovative capacity
Inspectorates
Interdepartmental
Interface
Iteration
Joined up
Joint working
LAAs
Level playing field
Lever
Leverage
Localities
Lowlights
MAAs
Mainstreaming
Management capacity
Meaningful consultation
Meaningful dialogue
Mechanisms
Menu of Options
Multi-agency
Multidisciplinary
Municipalities
Network model
Normalising
Outcomes
Outcomes
Output
Outsourced
Overarching
Paradigm
Parameter
Participatory
Partnership working
Partnerships
Pathfinder
Peer challenge
Performance Network
Place shaping
Pooled budgets
Pooled resources
Pooled risk
Populace
Potentialities
Practitioners
Predictors of Beaconicity
Preventative services
Prioritization
Priority
Proactive
Process driven
Procure
Procurement
Promulgate
Proportionality
Protocol
Provider vehicles
Quantum
Quick hit
Quick win
Rationalisation
Rebaselining
Reconfigured
Resource allocation
Revenue Streams
Risk based
Robust
Scaled-back
Scoping
Sector wise
Seedbed
Self-aggrandizement
Service users
Shared priority
Shell developments
Signpost
Single conversations
Single point of contact
Situational
Slippage
Social contracts
Social exclusion
Spatial
Stakeholder
Step change
Strategic
Strategic priorities
Streamlined
Sub-regional
Subsidiarity
Sustainable
Sustainable communities
Symposium
Synergies
Systematics
Taxonomy
Tested for Soundness
Thematic
Thinking outside of the box
Third sector
Toolkit
Top-down
Trajectory
Tranche
Transactional
Transformational
Transparency
Upstream
Upward trend
Utilise
Value-added
Vision
Visionary
Welcome
Wellbeing
Worklessness

I am afraid I am guilty of using more than 50% 0f those words in my normal conversation.

However, I supoose it is how they are used that matters.

A family of four with a combined weight of 83 stone say they are "too fat to work" and need more than the £22,000 they currently receive in benefits.

Philip Chawner, 53, and his 57-year-old wife Audrey weigh 24st. Their daughter Emma, 19, weighs 17st, while her older sister Samantha, 21, weighs 18st.

The family from Blackburn claim £22,508 a year in benefits, equivalent to the take-home pay from a £30,000 salary.

The Chawners, haven't worked in 11 years, claim their weight is a hereditary condition and the money they receive is insufficient to live on.

Mr Chawner said: "What we get barely covers the bills and puts food on the table. It's not our fault we can't work. We deserve more."

The family claim to spend £50 a week on food and consume 3,000 calories each a day. The recommended maximum intake is 2,000 for women and 2,500 for men.

"We have cereal for breakfast, bacon butties for lunch and microwave pies with mashed potato or chips for dinner," Mrs Chawner told Closer magazine.

"All that healthy food, like fruit and veg, is too expensive. We're fat because it's in our genes. Our whole family is overweight," she added.

Each week, Mr and Mrs Chawner, who have been married for 23 years, receive £177 in income support and incapacity benefit. Mrs Chawner is paid an extra £330-a-month disability allowance for epilepsy and asthma, both a result of being overweight.

Mr Chawner gets £71 a month after developing Type 2 diabetes because of his size. He was on a waiting list for a gastric band last year, but a heart condition made the operation unsuitable.

Their daughter Samantha receives £84 in Jobseekers' Allowance each fortnight while Emma, who is training to be a hairdresser, gets £58 every two weeks under a hardship fund for low-income students.

Emma,19, said: "I'm a student and don't have time to exercise"."We all want to lose weight to stop the abuse we get in the street, but we don't know how."

Emma famously appeared on the TV talent show X Factor in 2007 wearing a wedding-style dress made by her dad.

She was kicked off after the first audition, but not before the family were evicted from their previous house after neighbours complained about her singing at 3am.

Mr Chawner said: ‘We love TV. It’s on from the moment we get up. Often I’m so tired from watching TV I have to have a nap.’

(Edited from articles in the Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail)

It is unfortunate if these people belong to the 1% of the population who are overweight because of a genuine medical condition.

However, they should restrict their calorie intake to (or below) the recommended daily levels, vary their diet to eat more healthily, turn off the TV - and get outside for some exercise.

VOLUNTEERS STRIP FOR AER LINGUS

Sightseers were given an eyeful last Sunday when hundreds of people stripped off beside a top tourist attraction.

Men and women of various shapes and ages disrobed at Jubilee Gardens next to the London Eye in the capital, relying on strategically placed "shamrocks" to protect their modesty.

The stunt was carried out to launch Aer Lingus's new £9.99 "no hidden extras" fare from Gatwick.

The offer for flights to new European destinations, including Vienna and Munich, begins on April 6.

Organisers hoped to attract 999 volunteers but the Metropolitan Police - who were "in attendance to ensure that the law was not broken" - said there were about two or three hundred.

The volunteers, who received two free return flights for taking part, gathered at Albert Embankment and marched along the South Bank until they reached the Jubilee Gardens at the foot of the London Eye.

Aer Lingus corporate affairs director Enda Corneille said: "We had a police visit this morning where we were warned that if any of the participants were completely nude, they would be liable to a fine for indecent exposure.

"However, once out of site of the cautious police, many of the participants ignored police warnings and stripped off for the bewildered, but eager, onlooking crowds, who captured the event on their camera phones."

(Metro)

Yes, we have been having some warm sunny days here in London recently.

Those girls couldn't have done that a few weeks ago.

EU BANS USE OF 'MISS' AND 'MRS'(AND SPORTSMEN AND STATESMEN) BECAUSE IT CLAIMS THEY ARE SEXIST

Using 'Miss' and 'Mrs' has been banned by leaders of the European Union because they are not considered politically correct.

Brussels bureaucrats have decided the words are sexist and issued new guidelines in its bid to create 'gender-neutral' language.

The booklet warns European politicians they must avoid referring to a woman's marital status.

This also means Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita are banned.

Instead of using the standard titles, it is asking MEPs to address women by their names.

And the rules have not stopped there - they also ban MEPs saying sportsmen and statesmen, advising athletes and political leaders should be used instead.

Man-made is also taboo - it should be artificial or synthetic, firemen is disallowed and air hostesses should be called flight attendants.

Headmasters and headmistresses must be heads or head teachers, laymen becomes layperson, and manageress or mayoress should be manager or mayor.

Police officers must be used instead of policeman and policewoman unless the officer's sex is relevant.

The only problem words that do not fit into the guidelines are waiter and waitress, which means MEPs are at least spared one worry when ordering a coffee.

They have reacted with incredulity to the booklet, which has been sent out by the Secretary General of the European Parliament.

Scottish Tory MEP Struan Stevenson described the guidelines as 'political correctness gone mad'.

He said: 'This is frankly ludicrous. We've seen the EU institutions try to ban the bagpipes and dictate the shape of bananas, but now they seem determined to tell us which words we are entitled to use in our own language.

'Gender-neutrality is really the last straw. The Thought Police are now on the rampage in the European Parliament.

'We will soon be told that the use of the words "man" or "woman" has been banned in case it causes offence to those who consider 'gender neutrality' an essential part of life.'

West Midlands Conservative MEP Philip Bradbourn is calling on the Secretary General to reveal who authorised the publication of the booklet and how much it has cost.
He described it as 'a waste of taxpayers' money' and 'an erosion of the English language as we know it'.

'I will have no part of it. I will continue to use my own language and expressions, which I have used all my life, and will not be instructed by this institution or anyone else in these matters,' he said.

'I shall also expect the many translators who sit in the European parliament to translate accurately the language I use. I find this publication offensive in the extreme.

'The Parliament, by the publication of this document, is not only bringing itself as an institution into more disrepute than it already suffers, but it is also showing that it has succumbed to the politically correct clap-trap currently in vogue.'

(Daily Mail)

THE LARGEST SWIMMING POOL IN HE WORLD

According to Guinness World Records, the man-made "lagoon" at the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, Chile is the largest swimming pool in the world.

The coast-hugging pool is all man-made with a bit of patented technology that uses water from the nearby Pacific Ocean to fill it.

(Los Angeles Times)

And not a swimmer in sight!

IF YOU WANT TO CLICK - DON'T CLICK AT THE WAITER

A poll of 3,000 people by an internet research company found that clicking your fingers at a waiter has been voted the biggest first date faux pas.

The rude, attention-grabbing gesture beat drowning a dish in salt before even tasting it and getting drunk at the table.

Other inappropriate acts which will ensure the first date is the only date were licking the plate clean, burping, picking teeth with fingers.

A spokesman said: "There are basic rules of etiquette which should be adhered to when eating out - and they're not hard to remember.

"The majority of respondents only expect basic good manners from their dining companions - so burping, coughing, breaking wind and obscenities are definitely off the menu."

The study also found 63 per cent of people could not bear to see the waiter being treated badly.

Almost half of adults hated someone picking their teeth with their finger nails instead of using the toothpicks provided.

Around 46 per cent did not like watching someone nearby licking the knife instead of using their fork.

And 38 per cent said someone slurping soup was not on.

Top 10 first date faux pas:

1. Clicking fingers at the waiter

2. Adding salt to the meal before tasting it

3. Getting drunk

4. Licking the plate clean

5. Burping

6. Picking teeth with fingers

7. Licking the knife

8. Slurping soup

9. Talking about sex or bodily functions

10. Not leaving a tip

(Telegraph)

But how should you attract the attention of a waiter?

In school we were taught to shout "Garcon!" in a French restaurant - and perhaps snap our fingers too!

Nowadays that is considered rudely demeaning and to catch the waiter's eye you should say "Monsieur s'il vous plait".

Of course, if you are being attended by a waitress, you should substitute "Mademoiselle" or "Madame" for "Monsieur"

However, that can be a little tricky if you misjudge the age and call a loung lady "Madame".

On the other hand, an elderly matron may be flattered to be called "Mademoiselle"!

NIGHTCLUB OFFERS UNLIMITED FREE DRINKS TO WOMEN

A nightclub has provoked anger by offering its female customers as much free drink as they can down.

Branding the deal a recession-beater, Vita nightclub in Sudbury, Suffolk, has a separate bar for women where staff hand out an endless supply of drinks.

Meanwhile at a downstairs bar, the men are expected to pay for their alcohol.

Several groups have attacked the promotion, voicing fears that the women will harm their health with excessive drinking and be more vulnerable to sexual attacks.

Lord Phillips, president of Sudbury Society, condemned the Thursday night deal, which has a flat £4 entrance fee for all, as 'mad, bad and sad'.

'It is mad because it flies in the face of experience of binge drinking, bad because it will heighten local concern about young people and sad because the owners are only considering short-term profits,' he said.

'It is a honey pot set-up to get the girls in and the men will follow.'

Chip Somers, chief executive of Bury St Edmunds-based addiction rehabilitation charity Focus12, said: 'It is completely irresponsible. It is basically saying 'come and get completely drunk'.

'They will say it is up to the individual but in those situations and with that kind of incentive to drink a lot, women are going to be in a very vulnerable and incapable state and that is not very good at all.'

Lord Phillips, President of Sudbury Society, said the scheme was 'mad, bad and sad'
Don Shenker, Alcohol Concern's chief executive, also condemned the promotion, saying it would impair females'judgment and would increase the chances of crimes such as sex attacks.

Nigel Bennett, Babergh district councillor for Sudbury South, said: 'It is not responsible on a number of grounds. It seems dangerous and there is something rather strange just offering free drinks to young girls.

'You could intimate it is because they drink less than men or other reasons you do not want to think about.'

However, Derek Smith, who has owned the club for seven years, defended the promotion, saying it would be responsibly policed.

'It is tough times at the moment and we are one of the few premises in Sudbury which is a freehold so we can get alcohol from wherever we want and we can get it quite cheap.

'I do not see why we can't pass that on to our customers.'

'Obviously door and bar staff have had extra training to identify intoxicated people.
'
Sudbury at the end of the day is not an affluent town - they like a good deal and we have tried going down the conventional route and it does not work.'

He added that the club planned to offer the promotion to men and women, alternating in three-month cycles.

(Daily Mail)

LARGE EGGS CAUSE PAIN AND AND STRESS TO HENS, SHOPPERS ARE TOLD

Consumers have been urged to avoid buying large eggs because hens suffer stress and pain while laying them, according to warnings endorsed by animal welfare experts.

Larger eggs are preferred by shoppers seeking better value, a trend reflected in higher premiums paid by retailers to producers who can supply larger eggs.

Tom Vesey, chairman of the British Free Range Producers' Association and an egg producer who keeps 16,000 hens in Gwent said it "can be painful to the hen" to lay a larger egg.

He also suggested medium-sized eggs tasted better and that two such eggs would make a better breakfast than a single large one.

He told The Times: "There is also the stress, which is a big problem as it takes more out of hens to lay large eggs. It would be kinder to eat smaller eggs. Whenever
I go to the Continent people eat medium-sized eggs yet here the housewife seems to be wedded to large eggs."

Mr Vesey claimed farmers receive 77p from supermarkets for a dozen medium eggs, £1 for large and just over £1 for very large.

Although his views are not shared by everyone in his industry, they have been endorsed by Phil Brooke, of Compassion in World Farming, who said: "Selectively breeding hens for high productivity, whether larger eggs or larger numbers of eggs, can cause a range of problems such as osteoporosis, bone breakage and prolapse.

We need to breed and feed hens so that they can produce eggs without risk to their health or welfare."

Christine Nicol, Professor of Animal Welfare at the University of Bristol, said: "There is no strong published evidence of pain in egg-laying hens but it's not unreasonable to think there may be a mismatch in the size of birds and the eggs they produce. We do often spot bloodstains on large eggs. As a personal decision I would never buy jumbo eggs."

Mr Vesey believes farmers might make more profit from producing medium eggs because of lower levels of breakages compared to larger eggs that have thinner shells.

(Telegraph)

DOCTOR CALLS FOR 'CHOCOLATE TAX' TO TACKLE OBESITY

A Scottish GP has called for chocolate to be taxed in the same way as alcohol and cigarettes to tackle increasing levels of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Dr David Walker, a GP in Lanarkshire, said many people eat their entire daily calorie requirement in chocolate, on top of their normal meals.

The doctor said chocolate used to be seen as a "treat" but had now become an harmful addiction for some.

He will put his proposals to colleagues at a BMA conference in Clydebank.

Dr Walker, who is also a trained food scientist and nutritionist, said: "Obesity is a mushrooming problem. We are heading the same way as the United States.

"There is an explosion of obesity and the related medical conditions, like type 2 diabetes. I see chocolate as a major player in this, and I think a tax on products containing chocolate could make a real difference."

Dr Walker said that a 225g bag of chocolate sweets contained almost 1,200 calories - almost half the recommended daily calorie intake for a man - and could be eaten incredibly quickly.

"After eating a bag of chocolate sweets you would have to walk continuously for three hours to burn off the calories consumed.

"It is simply not enough to say people should get more exercise. They also need to moderate their chocolate intake and this tax would help them do that."

Representatives from the food and drinks manufacturing industry have dismissed Dr Walker's suggestion. (Surprise! Surprise!)

(BBC)

HOSPITALS SPEND LESS ON PATIENTS' FOOD THAN PRISONS SPEND FOR THEIR INMATES

Some hospital patients have less money spent on their meals than criminals.

Last year, ten hospitals spent less on breakfast, lunch and an evening meal than the £2.12 a day allocated for food by the prison service. One hospital spent just £1.

Ministers promised action to improve the quality of hospital food two years ago, saying some elderly patients were being served nothing more than a scoop of grey mashed potato.

Experts say cost-cutting hospitals are increasingly moving to soup and sandwiches to save money. Others are buying food that is prepared off site, frozen and then defrosted in the hospital.

The figures from the NHS Information Centre also expose shocking waste, with some trusts throwing away a third of meals entirely untouched.A total of 11million meals a year are thrown away uneaten.

Earlier this week it emerged that more than 8,000 patients left hospital malnourished even though they had been admitted with no nutritional problems. This was up 16.5 per cent in a year and was more than double the figure when Labour came to power.

The figures on hospital food spending have been condemned by doctors, patients groups, and opposition politicians.

Dr Mike Stroud of the hospital nutrition charity BAPEN said: 'The catering budget is an easy target in trusts which are pushed for money. Some have gone to soups, cold meals and sandwiches in a bid to cut costs.

'But this is a false economy: food is an integral part of treatment, not just part of the hotel service. Studies have shown that patients who eat well recover better.'

Conservative health spokesman Stephen O'Brien said: 'More people are now coming out of hospital malnourished than went in. Is it any surprise when the Government is prepared to allow some hospitals to spend less on their patients than they spend on food for prisoners?'

The figures revealed that average daily spending on hospital food across England was £6.97, compared with £9.87 in Wales. The figures do not cover Scotland.

But some are spending much smaller amounts.

The figures show that the Kevin White Unit at Sefton Health Park, a mental health hospital on Merseyside, spends just £1 on its patients.

However, the local trust said this was not a true reflection of the full cost as some meals are provided on a different site and transferred.

Next is Nelson Hospital, a mental health facility in South London, on £1.53.

The lowest general hospital on the league table is Hemel Hempstead on £1.93.

The general hospital with the highest spending is Bristol Hospital, where £16.80 is spent per patient per day.

(Daily Mail)

Prisoners released early from jail have been paid more than £5 million in 'compensation' for losing free board and lodging, it was revealed yesterday.

The taxpayer-funded handouts have been made under a controversial scheme to cut overcrowding in Britain's prisons.

Introduced after Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in June 2007, the end-of-custody licence (ECL) has enabled almost 50,000 prisoners to walk free before the halfway point of their sentence because of the chronic shortage of cell space.

Figures released by Justice Secretary Jack Straw show the Government has so far paid around £5.4m to prisoners to make up for loss of free board and lodging and their inability to claim benefits during the early release period.

Opposition MPs have slammed the early release scheme and shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve said of the latest figures: 'Hard-pressed taxpayers will be flabbergasted to learn they are compensating prisoners for being released early - it just adds insult to injury.'

(Abridged from an article in the Daily Mail)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1160405/Prisoners-paid-5m-compensation-loss-free-board-early-release.html

Almost seven million adults have maths skills below the level of the average 11-year-old, a worrying survey has found.

Up to 6.8million adults, or one in six, would struggle to answer even simple questions.

The cost of innumeracy to the country has been estimated at £2.4billion a year because those who leave school having failed to master basic maths are more likely to end up jobless, depressed or pregnant at a young age.

The scale of poor maths skills has been attributed to decades of failure in schools, where a lack of focus on the three Rs allowed children to complete their education with only a rudimentary grasp of the basics.

Millions of pounds are still being spent by the state and employers to give remedial education to those who finished school unable to read, write and add up properly.

Today, ministers will release a quiz to help Britons determine whether they could benefit from brushing up their maths skills on free courses.

It is part of an initiative to improve the numeracy and literacy skills of one million adults over the next three years.

The Government's maths quiz:
How does your maths compare with the average 11 year old?

(Daily Mail)

'SILVER SOZZLERS' SPEND THEIR PENSIONS ON BINGE DRINKING

New figures today reveal the scale of alcohol abuse among middle class over-65s in London.

Hospitals are admitting more than 100 retired patients a day for alcohol abuse.

Serious drink-addiction has nearly doubled among the over-65 age group. Former company directors living in affluent areas of London are among those ending up in A & E or on surgical wards for drink-related problems.

A total of 36,805 pensioners a year - "silver sozzlers"- are hospitalised for drink-related health problems. This compares with 20,735 in 2002. Experts predict the figures for liver disease and alcohol poisoning will continue to rise unless addiction treatment is made more available on the NHS.

They also say drinking at home is one reason why binge drinking has soared among the elderly.

The figures will increase pressure on ministers to take action against the drinks industry which has been blamed for encouraging binge drinking with cut-price promotions and incentives.

Anti-addiction charities and medical experts called on the Government to follow Scotland and bring in a minimum price for drink. It is the first country in Europe to fix alcohol prices.

The Liberal Democrats, who uncovered the figures, said the dangers of excessive drinking among retired people was a hidden problem and solutions needed to be properly targeted.

Lib-Dem MP Tom Brake said: 'While newspaper headlines have focused on binge-drinking teenagers, the number of elderly people being hospitalised due to alcohol has been soaring unnoticed.

"These figures are deeply worrying and ministers must take action to tackle this new and disturbing trend. The Government has massively under-funded alcohol treatment services, while this problem has been allowed to escalate."

The Royal College of Physicians, which is calling for higher taxes on alcohol, said drinking at home was partly to blame. RCP president Professor Ian Gilmore told the Standard: 'These figures underline that the UK's worrying relationship with alcohol is not just about teenage binge drinking.

"The biggest increase in drinking is at home, fuelled by massive supermarket discounting. The over-65s, particularly vulnerable to illness, are clearly part of this rising tide of health harm."

Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond and Kingston are among those boroughs with ageing alcoholics.

More than 2,000 over-65s a year in these areas alone need hospital treatment for drink-related health problems.

(Evening Standard)

The Size of the Problem:

A recent government health survey found that 1 to 5 per cent of elderly people who drank more than occasionally were ‘problem drinkers’, reporting significant psychological and/or physical dependence on alcohol.

Other studies have found higher proportions of elderly problem drinkers, especially in men. One found 5 - 12 per cent of men in their 60’s to have alcohol problems.

Another possible measure is the proportion of older people exceeding government recommended “sensible limits” for regular consumption, although there is a question as to whether the limits are appropriate for the elderly, as they are based on evidence relating to younger age groups. Older people may be more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol

It is said the postman always rings twice. Well, meet the milkman who rang just once in five years – to deliver a whopping £807 bill.

Rowland Howells finally caught up with patient customer Allyson Hill after delivering 1,614 daily pints.

She'd been leaving regular notes in the empties asking to pay her bill but without success. Until he knocked at her door and said: 'Do you know who I am?'

'I said, “You're our milkman”, and asked him to come in,' said Mrs Hill, a mother of two.

'I said, “Where have you been?” and he replied, “Time goes by so quickly”.

He told me to sit down and then announced the figure. I nearly fell off my chair.' She said she never saw her milkman as he delivered at 4am.

'I didn't know how to contact him other than put a note in a milk bottle, which I did countless times,' she added.

Mrs Hill, 56, from near Bridgend, South Wales, gave the milkman a cheque and, although she has no hard feelings, she has cancelled her daily pints.

Mr Howells was 'too busy' on his rounds to comment on his bumper bill.

(Metro)

'OLD SCHOOL' CHARLES IS CROWNED KING OF FASHION

He has faithfully stuck to his signature double-breasted suit, pressed shirt and polished shoes for more than four decades. And finally it has paid off.

Prince Charles is today named the most fashionable man in the world, by style bible Esquire magazine, even beating OutKast rapper André 3000, 33, and Barack Obama, 47.

Judges agreed the 60-year-old Prince's old-school taste was preferable to "on-trend" dressers.

In fact, the list includes its fair share of mature men. Comedian Ronnie Corbett, 78, takes second place, applauded for his appreciation of the Argyle sweater. Artist David Hockney, 71, also made the top 10.

The youngest man on the list - and the only one in his twenties - is tennis champion Roger Federer, 27. Esquire salutes his "old-fashioned Wimbledon elegance" which appears to "verge on parody".

Jeremy Langmead, editor of Esquire, said today: "It's the men who dress like grown-ups who really caught the judges' eyes; as well as those who have developed their own distinctive style and stuck with it."

However, Gordon Brown and Boris Johnson, whose hair was described as "the result of an encounter with a ghost in a wind tunnel", were put in a round-up of worst dressed men.

● The full list of best and worst dressed men will appear in the April issue of Esquire magazine, available from today.

(Evening Standard)

Now this is how his son does it:

Prince Charles with William

Motorist pulled over and quizzed... for LAUGHING at the wheel

Motorist Gary Sanders was enjoying a good giggle as he chatted over a hands-free phone to a friend on the way to work.

But his amusement turned to astonishment when a policeman pulled him over for...excessive laughing.

The company director was obeying the speed limit and not driving dangerously.

However, the officer who ordered him to stop at the exit to the Mersey tunnel told him without a hint of a smile: 'Laughing while driving a car can be an offence.'

If that had been the end of the matter then Mr Sanders, 47, would probably have laughed the whole thing off.

But he subjected him to a 35-minute grilling, with questions about everything from his ethnic group to details of distinguishing scars on his body.

And despite not being charged with an offence, he still had to waste a further 90 minutes of his time producing his driving licence and other documents at a police station.

Due to the delay Mr Sanders, the managing director of Liverpool-based Spontex Workwear, missed an important business appointment.

He said: 'I couldn't believe it when he told me I'd been pulled over for for laughing. I was driving very safely in the Birkenhead Tunnel and took a call from a friend on my hand-free phone.

'He said something funny and I was laughing - simple as that. I never took my eyes off the road and was in full control of the car.

'Then I noticed the police car flashing its lights and the officer signalling me to pull over. I definitely wasn't speeding so I asked what the problem was and he told me I was laughing too much.

'The officer accused me of throwing my head back in a dangerous way, which I denied since it is definitely not something I do.

'I was astonished that he could say that laughing might be an offence. What is the country coming too?

I was kept there for 35 minutes answering unrelated questions like what ethnic group I belonged to and if I had any distinguishing marks scars?

'It became a bit ridiculous when he wanted to know the colour of my hair as I have alopecia and there isn't a hair on my head. When I pointed this out he asked "What colour was your hair when you had some?"

It went from ludicrous to unbelievable. He definitely had a bee in his bonnet about something and I got the brunt of it.'

Mr Sanders said the officer eventually admitted no law had been broken, but still insisted he should show his documents to be checked.

'The police should have better things to do than harassing law-abiding people this way. I missed an important meeting and my whole day was messed up and all for nothing. Its was certainly no joke.'

Superintendent Kevin Hagger of the Mersey Tunnels Police said:'There is no record of the incident in the system so it seems the gentleman was just spoken to by the officer and the matter not taken any further.'

Solicitor Nick Freeman, dubbed Mr Loophole for his ability to clear celebrities of motoring offences in court, said laughing at the wheel could only be an offence if it caused the motorist to drive dangerously.

'If the man was swerving all over the road then the officer may have grounds to charge him with driving without due care and attention or dangerous driving,' he said.

Brian Gregory from the Association of British Drivers said: 'This is a shocking example of the police harassing innocent motorists simply because they are an easy target. To suggest that a driver could be prosecuted for laughing is ludicrous beyond belief.
'What next? Can we expect to hear of people being stopped for sneezing or coughing
while they are at the wheel? What about the risk of listening to the radio... they might broadcast something that makes a driver laugh. Drivers have to be credited with some common sense.

'It is a fact that drivers who are happy and smiling are far safer on the roads than anyone uptight and stressed.

"Since the introduction of on-the-spot fines the police have become judge and jury and it's time these powers were reigned-in a little. We are all human and sometimes we cannot control involuntary things like laughter.'

(Daily Mail)

ELDERLY PATIENTS PRESCRIBED UNNECESSARY PILLS BECAUSE OF 'TICK-BOX' CULTURE

Millions of healthy older people are being prescribed pills that they don't need, claims a top doctor.

The treatments for high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes could in fact be harmful, warns Professor Michael Oliver.

He blames the 'tick-box culture' - by which GPs are paid - and Health Service guidelines for encouraging the use of such drugs.

Professor Oliver, a former leading heart specialist, said: 'These bureaucratic demands can lead to over-diagnosis, overtreatment and unnecessary anxiety.

'A fit and healthy older person summoned by his GP for an annual health check can return home as a patient, scared and no longer comfortably ageing.'

Professor Oliver, professor emeritus of cardiology at the University of Edinburgh, launched his broadside against modern medicine in the British Medical Journal online.

He argues that 'many Western governments regard all people aged over 75 as patients'.

Other critics claim that even younger people, such as those in their 60s, are being treated in the same way because of the pressures for preventive prescribing.

Around ten million Britons are aged 65 or over. Professor Oliver said that even if older people feel reasonably well, the 'NHS does not always permit such euphoria'.

'They may be told they have hypertension or diabetes or high cholesterol, that they are obese, they take too little exercise, eat unhealthily and drink too much. Many of these patients are told to have more investigations.

Eventually most will be started on pills. Few seem to be considered not at risk for something,' he said.

Yet preventive action may be irrelevant and even harmful in the elderly, he claims.

He highlighted three areas of concern - antihypertensive drugs, diabetes drugs and cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Antihypertensive drugs are used to reduce blood pressure and are usually prescribed for life. But as many as one in five patients experience side effects, from tiredness and fatigue to impotence and heart rhythm disturbances.

Diabetes drugs can cause diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, and dangerously low blood sugar levels.

And cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins, interact with some other drugs and have side effects including abdominal pain, diarrhoea and nausea.

The most serious adverse reaction is muscle weakness in about one in 1,000 users, with rare complications that can lead to kidney failure and death.

Professor Oliver said that too little attention was paid to potential side effects from medicating elderly people.

Busy family doctors appear to assume that because a pill cuts the relative risk of a disease by 25 per cent compared with other or no treatments, it must be prescribed.
Yet the reduction in absolute risk to the individual - the chances of a medical emergency or death - may be only one or two per cent.

'What kind of medicine is this?' he asks. 'It is politics taking preference over professionalism, obsession with government targets superceding common sense, paternalism replacing personal advice.

'This trend has many causes. 'These include over-enthusiastic and uncritical interpretation of various guidelines, the payment of GPs by NHS trusts for ticking boxes, the demands of government health economics and of insurance companies, and the relentless pressure from the drug industry,' he concludes.

The professor said guidelines were not 'commandments' and rigid adherence can result in a superficial diagnosis that leaves someone stuck with the label of a disease for the rest of their life.

Professor Oliver, who describes himself as a healthy, fit, 83-year- old, said he was not arguing against treatment of disease or illness in over-75s, such as heart surgery, which clearly helped the individual.

But treating 'risk factors' must be approached with caution, he claims. 'The benefits and risks of treatment, and of remaining untreated, need to be explained fully to individuals, as it is they who should make the final choice.'

It has been claimed by health experts that mass medication might be the only answer to cut such problems as heart disease. Statins could cut heart attacks by 30 per cent, some doctors have calculated.

Gordon Lishman, Director General of Age Concern, said 'Doctors have a tightrope to walk. Inappropriate and excessive drug prescribing is a real issue, especially as many older people have lots of different, overlapping health complaints.

'The answer is to treat each person as an individual, by fully investigating all their health problems and offering them personally tailored treatment with the aim of maximising their overall health rather than treating each illness in isolation.'

(Abridged from an article in the Daily Mail)

SHOULD INSURANCE PREMIUMS BE AGE-RELATED?

Many elderly people find as they get older that they have to pay more for motor and travel insurance.

Now the Government plans to bar age discrimination and Insurance companies say that this will lead to millions of people facing hefty car insurance price rises.

The cost of travel cover could double if firms are no longer able to take customers' ages into account when assessing risk, insurers claim.

But while the ABI said it would be unfair on other consumers if its members were not allowed to take age into account when setting premiums, campaign groups for the elderly insist that it is wrong to discriminate on age.

Statistically, the riskiest drivers are older motorists, particularly those over 85 and younger motorists in the 17 to 21 bracket.

The issue has echoes of an earlier insurance discrimination row when Whitehall looked at the premiums charged to male and female drivers.

In that instance, insurers successfully argued there were fundamental risk differences in the accidents suffered by men and women.

Men typically have fewer accidents, but those they do have tend to be more costly.

Women, by contrast, have more accidents, though these tend to be lower speed shunts.

Firms such as 'Sheila's Wheels' used the difference to offer lower premiums to women.

(From an article in the Daiy Mail)

DRIVEN ROUND THE BEND: ALL CAR JOURNEYS ON BRITAIN'S MOTORWAYS COULD BE TRACKED

The police and MI5 have been given access to a network of infrared cameras that can track millions of car journeys across Britain.

The 1,090 cameras read numberplates of cars on all motorways and major trunk roads, recording the time, date and location of the vehicle and storing the data for five years.

The Highways Agency installed the bright green cameras to calculate journey times.

But last week a senior agency official confirmed they are being linked to a police database.

Thousands of CCTV cameras across the country have also been converted to read numberplates – as have mobile cameras. Police helicopters can spot plates from the air and officers have live access to London’s Congestion Charge cameras.

The database is central to an operation orchestrated by the Association of Chief Police Officers and backed by £32million of Government cash.

But privacy campaigners attacked the move. Simon Davies, of Privacy International, said: ‘This is the latest layer in a plan to monitor people from the second they leave their front door to the moment they return. It is being constructed in secret.’

(Daily Mail)

This subject has been well-aired in the British press over the past few days - but it may have escaped the attention of my overseas readers.

Ryanair's chief executive sparked howls of protest today by suggesting his airline is looking into charging passengers £1 to use toilets on its aircraft.

Michael O'Leary said that the carrier has been investigating fitting coin slots to the doors of aircraft toilets, similar to those installed at train stations.

“One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually have to spend a pound to spend a penny in future,” he told BBC Breakfast this morning.

“We are always at Ryanair looking at ways of constantly lowering the cost of air travel to make it affordable and easier for all passengers to fly with us.”

(From The Times)

I wonder whether another passenger would hold the door open, so I don't have to pay? But I expect there would be cabin staff standing by to stop that sort of thing. Or perhaps I could have one of those portable urinal bottle things, to use discreetly in my seat.