Tag: travel

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Herald writer’s cringing ignorance of the best equipped ferry service in the world – ours

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By Professor John Robertson, Rough Guide Best International Ferry Correspondent 2022, 2023 and 2024 In the Herald yesterday: MUCH has been said about Scotland’s ongoing ferry fiasco which has left the network with a large number of passengers but hardly any ships. It should be the gold standard of marine disasters, an exemplar to show the world how not to do things. An exemplar, eh, Simpson? Have you looked at any other ferry services in other parts which might be exemplars of how to do things? You haven’t? Thought so. Too tired? Here, I’ll do it. First, Calmac has 33 vessels in … Continue reading Herald writer’s cringing ignorance of the best equipped ferry service in the world – ours

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Premature and low birth weight babies surge in Scotland due to UK austerity – While poverty rates are ‘considerably higher’ in England thanks to SNP efforts, Labour risk making things worse again

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By Professor John Robertson OBA In the Guardian today: The introduction of UK austerity policies has been associated with a striking increase in the number of babies in Scotland being born smaller or earlier than expected, data suggests. Researchers believe cuts to social security benefits and services are key to understanding these trends, which have hit families living in the poorest neighbourhoods the hardest. and further down: Given that post-austerity poverty rates are actually fairly considerably higher in England, the expectation is that we will have seen similar trends there. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/02/uk-austerity-policies-premature-low-birth-weight-babies-scotland The Labour government’s early actions on, for example, keeping the two-child benefit cap … Continue reading Premature and low birth weight babies surge in Scotland due to UK austerity – While poverty rates are ‘considerably higher’ in England thanks to SNP efforts, Labour risk making things worse again

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The A9 funding – regardless, deaths plummet, dualed sections no more safe and Scotland’s roads are safest in UK but BBC Scotland try to deceive you with out-of-date statistics

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From BBC Scotland all day today: A group of MSPs say they are concerned not enough money will be available to complete a £3bn project to dual the A9 between Inverness and Perth by 2035. In a new report, a Holyrood committee said wrangles over funding had already “significantly” contributed to the original 2025 target being missed. Convener and Scottish Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw said there was “no conspiracy to frustrate” the road but there been a lack of scrutiny and focus. and Single carriageway sections are being dualled to improve journey times and safety. In 2022, … Continue reading The A9 funding – regardless, deaths plummet, dualed sections no more safe and Scotland’s roads are safest in UK but BBC Scotland try to deceive you with out-of-date statistics

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Privatised Greek ferries described as ‘like being on a cross between the back of a floating lorry and a building site’ as another runs aground only three years after another sank with 530 onboard and one year after late arrival was pushed off to his death

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From Tornos News yesterday: The passenger ferry “Aghia Theodora,” which ran aground earlier on Tuesday in waters about four nautical miles northwest of the port of Igoumenitsa was pulled free with the assistance of tugboats and has arrived safely at Igoumenitsa port, ANA reports.1 Only three years before, the MV Express Samina inter-island ferry sank with 530 on board In September 2023, highlighting ‘fears about the safety of some of the ageing vessels that ply Aegean waters.‘2 One year ago: A video that went viral showed 36-year-old Antonis Kargiotis running on to the loading ramp of the ferry in Athens … Continue reading Privatised Greek ferries described as ‘like being on a cross between the back of a floating lorry and a building site’ as another runs aground only three years after another sank with 530 onboard and one year after late arrival was pushed off to his death

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Steady fall in cardiac death rate over last 10 years

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Public Health Scotland, today, the above graph, and: The rate of hospital discharges of patients with a heart attack has decreased by 20% in the past 10 years. In 2023/24, 94% of people survived 30 days or more following their first heart attack, which is largely unchanged over the past decade. The rate at which new cases of coronary heart disease occur (the incidence) has fallen by 12% over the last 10 years. https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/scottish-cardiac-audit-programme-scap/scottish-cardiac-audit-programme-report-20232024/ Support Scots Independent, Scotland’s oldest pro-independence newspaper and host of the OBA (Oliver Brown Award) at: https://scotsindependent.scot/FWShop/shop/ The Oliver Brown Award for advancing the cause of Scotland’s … Continue reading Steady fall in cardiac death rate over last 10 years

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New Tasmania ferry stupidly bought from Finland nearly 18 000 miles away, and trapped by ice, must winter in the Sunshine on Leith

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(c) Visit Scotland There are around 10 major shipbuilders in Australia, including Incat which builds large catamaran ferries, yet the Tasmanian government has made things devilishly complicated by ordering 2 new ferries from Finland which, even after a wee break in Leith, will arrive two years before the new berths are completed and have to be leased to some other island – Iceland? According to ABC, today: A newly built Spirit of Tasmania ferry will be temporarily stored at a shipyard in Scotland while the Tasmanian government explores options to lease or charter the ship until a home berth can … Continue reading New Tasmania ferry stupidly bought from Finland nearly 18 000 miles away, and trapped by ice, must winter in the Sunshine on Leith

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Latest Greek ferry tragedy as everything stops in strike affecting most islands

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A late-arriving passenger pushed to his death in the screws at Piraeus, dangerously over-crowded ferries, elderly passengers having to walk through the waves onto the sand carrying their bags after jetty collapses and no winter service at all to the smaller islands in this privatised and unsubsidised system, and now a massive strike over several days which government refuses to care about. From the Maritime Executive, last week: The unions representing Greek seafarers including deckhands, dockworkers, and others on the country’s critical island ferries, are extending their strike for another two days as they demand better wages and work rules. … Continue reading Latest Greek ferry tragedy as everything stops in strike affecting most islands

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Threat of complete tourism collapse as Channel Islands government dillies but one tender seems quite unsafe

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Owned by King Charles III and run by centrist/rightist governments, the Channel Island been suffering a terrible ferry fiasco for years now with locals often unable to meet important medical appointments and businesses run businesses, especially in tourism. From BBC South-West, today: Ferry firms and business groups have called for an “immediate” decision on which company will run ferry operations in the Channel Islands from March. Brittany Ferries, Condor Ferries, Jersey Chamber of Commerce and the Jersey Hospitality Association, said in a statement that the “prolonged impasse” on awarding the contract was “detrimental” to tourism. Christophe Mathieu, chief executive of … Continue reading Threat of complete tourism collapse as Channel Islands government dillies but one tender seems quite unsafe

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Under cover vegetables production UP 400%! – Scotland’s agricultural economy – positive news ignored because it does not tell the correct story

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By Professor John Robertson: Search for ‘BBC Scotland’ agriculture and all they have is the above image and The village that a religious sect helped to found, yet released only days ago there is Results from the Scottish Agricultural Census: June 2024. Do they have a ferm correspondent at all at Pacific Quay? Anyhow, from this important release, it’s a mixed sack which I am not competent to fully evaluate because Scotland’s farmers have been producing less of somethings to keep Reporting Scotland happy and more of other things to force them to avert their eyes. I guess it’s complex – … Continue reading Under cover vegetables production UP 400%! – Scotland’s agricultural economy – positive news ignored because it does not tell the correct story

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Government of Tasmania bedevilled by costly ferry ‘stuff up’ to rival New Zealand’s $3 billion ferrymageddon and to make the Arran Ferry Fiasco one of those things in a teacup

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Regulars here will know that New Zealand’s lifeline Cook Straits ferry system is in a real crisis as the Government refuses to pay $3 billion for 2 new ferries. Just round the corner in Tasmania, population 573 000, 12 times that of Arran but like Arran, relying on two ‘lifeline’ ferries, there’s a ‘stuff-up’ (Worse than a fiasco or less bad?). Here’s the stuff-up, from Yahoo News yesterday: The start date for two new larger Bass Strait ferries has been pushed further back, with vital berth upgrades several years behind an already delayed schedule. Cost blowouts, finger pointing between state-owned … Continue reading Government of Tasmania bedevilled by costly ferry ‘stuff up’ to rival New Zealand’s $3 billion ferrymageddon and to make the Arran Ferry Fiasco one of those things in a teacup