Tag: travel

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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

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Greek islanders running out of food as lifeline ferries face indefinite strike action but Greek Government doesn’t feel any responsibility

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From TTW yesterday: For the third consecutive day, ferry services across Greece have come to a complete halt due to a strike by the Greek seamen’s union, leaving island residents and tourists stranded. The seamen, represented by the Panhellenic Seamen’s Federation (PNO), are demanding a 15 percent pay rise for their members, while shipowners have so far only offered a 3 percent increase. With both sides at an impasse, the strike continues to disrupt travel and supplies to Greece’s many inhabited islands, especially those without airports. The ferry strike has resulted in a transportation crisis for the islands that rely … Continue reading Greek islanders running out of food as lifeline ferries face indefinite strike action but Greek Government doesn’t feel any responsibility

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Brian Wilson knows nothing about the massive benefit islanders get from Scot Gov generosity on ferries

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Brian Wilson is in the Herald today with another ill-informed rant against CalMac and by association, of course, the SNP in Government. Read it yourself, if you have the stomach. Here are the facts: Research reveals Scotland’s island communities benefit from the most inclusive, generously subsidised and up-to-date ferry service in the comparable world Research undertaken for Transport Scotland in 2022, by Ernst and Young LLP, compared the ferry systems operating in Scotland, Canada (BC), Norway, Australia and New Zealand. The Norway service is a bit of an outlier with twice as many passengers per year than … Continue reading Brian Wilson knows nothing about the massive benefit islanders get from Scot Gov generosity on ferries

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Factcheck – Police Scotland absences due to ill-health lower than for NHS

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By Professor John Robertson OBA Today, the Scotsman has the above. It’s a classic ‘big number that is actually a fairly wee number story‘ by a reporter who is either no very bright or has trouble with the truth. Police Scotland has 21 707 staff. According to the Scotsman, they were off due to ill health for 1 020 930 days over 4 years from 2020. So, 260 work days in a year, minus 34 days of leave (28-37 depending on service), is 226 times 21 207 staff times 4 years is 19 171 128 days that could be worked. That … Continue reading Factcheck – Police Scotland absences due to ill-health lower than for NHS

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Cost of two larger New Zealand ferries must rise to $3 BILLION, significantly more pro rata than the £360 million cost of Calmac’s MV Sannox and Glen Rosa

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From Newsroom yesterday: $3b a small price to pay for future of Interislander ferries – The Cook Strait ferries debacle has focused on the cost blow-outs for the respective port upgrades but there has been little attention given to what is needed to ensure adequate connectivity between our two main islands. It is obvious that a country split into two main islands needs reliable, efficient, modern rail-enabled ferry services. It’s hard to think of another transport requirement as important as this. Yet Government ministers have nickel-and-dimed the debate to the extent that the real question in play here is obscured … Continue reading Cost of two larger New Zealand ferries must rise to $3 BILLION, significantly more pro rata than the £360 million cost of Calmac’s MV Sannox and Glen Rosa

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Ferry death scandal as 7 dead in US state with more than twice per head Scotland’s GDP

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By Professor John Robertson OBA From Forum Daily yesterday: At least 7 dead after Georgia ferry dock collapses – Eight people were taken to hospitals, at least six of them with serious injuries, and crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, McIntosh County Fire Department and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources were pulling victims and survivors from the water, said Tyler Jones, a spokesman for Natural Resources. The agency operates a marina and ferries between the island and the mainland. The jetty’s gangway collapsed, sending people into the water, Jones said. A team of engineers and construction experts arrived on the … Continue reading Ferry death scandal as 7 dead in US state with more than twice per head Scotland’s GDP

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Latest – paracetamol deaths twice as high in Scotland, suicide, alcohol deaths, cancer deaths, shorter lives – clues that colonial subservience is killing us?

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By Professor John Robertson This shocking fact popped up in my alerts this morning, from research published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology: The Scottish paracetamol-related death rate was twice as high as in England and Wales.1 TWICE as high? That’s astonishing. This is despite more GPs, faster ambulance and A&E times in Scotland. Overdosing with other drugs, is even worse. In Scotland they are 2.7 times as high as the 2022 rates for England and Northern Ireland, and 2.1 times as high as the 2022 rate in Wales.2 This is, again, despite better emergency services, 95% drug treatment within … Continue reading Latest – paracetamol deaths twice as high in Scotland, suicide, alcohol deaths, cancer deaths, shorter lives – clues that colonial subservience is killing us?

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West Midlands ‘complex county lines’ gang using children to sell drugs from ‘trap houses’ into and across Scotland

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From The Express & Star, yesterday: Members of ‘complex’ County Lines gang who sent children to ‘trap houses’ to deal drugs are jailed. A drugs gang who recruited children to sell crack and heroin have been jailed for 30 years. After cornering the Wolverhampton and Stafford drugs market the gang opened up new drug lines in Corby, Northamptonshire and as far as Scotland. Brian Asante, 23, from Canberra Drive, Stafford, would threaten and bribe vulnerable children to sell drugs for him in “trap houses” [cuckooing] in towns, leaving them vulnerable to attack from rival drug dealers.1 How do these children … Continue reading West Midlands ‘complex county lines’ gang using children to sell drugs from ‘trap houses’ into and across Scotland

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400 passengers stranded in Bilbao on a day when Brittany ferries cancels, brings forward or delays, 5 out of only 14 sailings in a ferry fiasco while CalMac does 97% of 506 sailings on time

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From MSN today: BRITTANY FERRIES HAS apologised to hundreds of passengers who are stuck on a ferry in the Port of Bilbao due to a “technical problem”.    The Galicia ferry, which travels from Rosslare to Bilbao and is operated by Brittany Ferries, was due to sail at 4pm Irish time.  However, the journey was abandoned because of a technical problem, which is understood to have affected one of the vessel’s engines. There are thought to be approximately 400 passengers onboard.  Imagine that happened in Scotland. From Brittany Ferries today: 2 out of only 14 cancelled and 4 moved to … Continue reading 400 passengers stranded in Bilbao on a day when Brittany ferries cancels, brings forward or delays, 5 out of only 14 sailings in a ferry fiasco while CalMac does 97% of 506 sailings on time