Used Clothes Collection has recently been cited as a scam in some instances. I myself have been suspicious that the envelopes with the plastic sacks were not always from the charity stated, especially when I saw some collected in a scruffy red van, assumed to be from a large charity. Charity shops are the sufferers, overall, losing anything up to £3m in revenue through the diversion of the wares.
The EBAY Syndrome in the charity industry. After writing the above comments I discovered articles donated to charity can be stolen and resold on Ebay. Clearly Ebay has no control over what is offered. This apparently is acknowledged as something which is growing, and also applies to purchases at car-boot sales. Whether this is as wide spread as was suggested to me would be a matter for the Charities to assess, but it is unpleasant if true and does seem a logical avenue for greed.
Living on flood plains, with the ice caps melting is prognosticated not only to be tricky currently, but totally impossible in the future. Writing as a one time marine engineer, while revetment is theoretically possible, in a high proportion of cases, practically, it is totally uneconomical because it would be on too big a scale. Why the government is proposing building on flood plains in the future is totally beyond me unless they are considering stilts; using boats for transport would be interesting, In fact I think their whole approach to providing more accommodation is more knee jerk than considered, responsible design.
The Libdems are progressing in popularity at the expense of Labour, and if Cameron continues with his aggressive manner, it just might be at the expense of the Tories also. They have always seemed a very reasonable, almost academic party, ever since the Gang of Four, and would be great in a coalition, but, unfortunately, with tactical voting, I can’t see them ever in power. If they did obtain a majority it would be so small, the country would virtually have a hung Parliament, which might be no bad thing for a few years, we might get back to sane, measured government
Medical Theories. I think they started showering us with theories in the 60s, concerning the pros and cons of what we eat and how it would affect us, when so many other half baked and often foolish theories abounded. We were told more than X eggs consumed in a week were bad for you. From child hood, until I stopped work, I ate at least six and generally eight eggs a week, and I still eat plenty at 85. Later the Lancet said eggs, butter and so many other things were not bad for one in normal quantities. The latest from Holland suggests that cooked foods, such as bread, cereals, coffee, meat, potatoes – ried, roasted, baked, grilled or barbecued, could be responsible for people suffering forms of cancer, especially women. The EU is even acting on it. The results were from a 120,000 sample. I assume they didn’t considered the effects of eating food which hasn’t been cooked, when it is raw or boiled, or if there are other additives in food contributing to the results. I believe eating homemade bread from pure flowers puts on less weight than bought bread, and bought bread adheres to the roof of my denture making eating sandwiches impossible to do with delicacy, when homemade bread does not. Today there are additives in everything, and unless one eats only home grown and home cooked food there is no guarantee what you are eating. I wonder if those tested were allowed to have meals out or were, like being battery hens, all fed the same diet in closed circumstances. Scientists generally enter their research into professional journals and the public only becomes aware when a journalist, in a slack period, wants something sensational to write about. I think a lot of people are worried about dying, instead of enjoying living. One is inevitable, the other is up to us.
OAPs over eighty are getting an extre rise, of 25 pence per week, With the problems the Government seems to have with computers, can you imagine what that is going to cost to implement, let alone how ridiculous it sounds.