Report Anything Suspicious

SUSPICIOUS IS A FUNNY WORD, ISN’T IT?
I saw this sign in the Glasgow underground today — it states:

Outer Circle 1 min
Report Anything Suspicious

Now, the first thing I noticed was that something had been stuck — deliberately — to this sign.  Perhaps this was an attempt to obscure some important information?  Look closely at the picture — double click to enlarge for a better view — doesn’t that look suspicious?

It doesn’t say who to report to.  It doesn’t say how to make a report. It doesn’t say what might be described as “suspicious”.

I had a suspicion a train was coming – - ought I to report this fact to someone? I started to get worried, what was suspicious? Should I suspect people of being illegal immigrants?  of being closet homosexuals? Perhaps I ought to report that chap for looking “shifty” — that’s suspicious, isn’t it?

Things are definitely getting worse on the tube these days! In the end I reported the sign. “Outer Circles” are pretty suspicious, don’t you think?  A bit like crop circles maybe? Who knows!

Pot Luck on Roads

THE ROADS ARE IN A DREADFUL STATE.

However, it seems that the council’s new LLCs would rather spend our tax-quids on speed cameras and speed humps in parking bays than fix the pot holes!

It is no exaggeration, and there is often no opportunity to avoid driving into them because of cars parked either side of the road.

These photographs were taken at the Battlefield monument right outside the Victoria Infirmary (one of the two southside hospitals in Glasgow city).  I pity the occupants of ambulances that have to deal with these pot holes on a daily basis!

Mind you, according to a news story I read, the repairs are never done very well. It’s all one big money-spinning racket. We’re going to pot (holes) — and, yes, things are still getting worse!

Scandalous: Council Secret Sell offs!

“DIRECT AND CARE” IS AN ANNOYING NAME FOR A COUNCIL DEPARTMENT BUT IT IS NO LONGER!

When I poked fun at “Direct and Care“ on this site, little did I know it really did have a bad name.  Not just that it was badly named, but that it was causing all sorts of financial trouble for the council.

I checked the City’s website this morning, and was surprised to see an entry dated a few days ago (31 October 2008 to be exact) regarding “Direct and Care”.

• www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/News/DirectCareLLP.htm

This is an amazing tale, and it demands your attention for a host of good reasons, not least of which is that almost no-one knows anything about what is going on!

Here’s the deal: “Direct and Care” grew to be one of the biggest council departments, with a staff of about 8000 civil servants.

Now, as you can imagine, all City councils are legally obliged — and committed — to meet financial targets set by the main government.

Back in June 2007, it was noticed that the so-called “Significant Trading Operations” (or “STOs”) of Glasgow’s “Direct and Care” department was in bad shape. Even their targets were to be met over a three year period, they were not on track to do this, they were heading for disaster!

So what to do?

The Executive Committee immediately asked for a “review” — they needed suggestions, ideas, and most of all, they needed answers — and fast.  They needed to get out of this hole — somehow.

So with Grant Thornton and Burness solicitors, a review of different options for getting out of trouble was produced.

The option that was decided upon was to privatise the department — something they had done before with “City Building”, “Culture and Sport Glasgow”, and “Glasgow Community and Safety Services”.  The council’s website puts it like this:

“Members of the Council’s Executive Committee today (Friday, 31 October 2008) approved a business plan to turn the department into the Council’s latest arm’s-length company…

The move means Direct and Care will have more opportunity to grow as a business by targeting the external market and should become more competitive in the longer term.”

Basically, there was no way this department was going to toe-the-line financially.  It was a huge money-pit.  There was no way the department would match the cheaper costs in the private sector — but they couldn’t just sack everyone, close down the department and put the workload out to competitive private tender. The City Leader, Steven Purcell said:

“If no action was taken by the Council it’s likely that we may have had to put these services out to competition, and winning contracts would be very difficult.”

Not one civil servant is made redundant, and the newly formed company will continue to provide the expensive and inefficient services we have come to expect — it’s just that because they are no longer aprt of the council, the targets are avoided and the council’s legal obligation evaporates!

Amusingly, the “business plan” produced as part of the review shows the new company becoming profitable in it’s FIRST year! It did not explain why it could not become profitable when run as a council department!

The company formed is a limited liability partnership, so if anything goes horribly wrong, the damage (liability) to the council will be limited — the council being in partnership with the private company — in that it provides work and money for the company but doesn’t take profits!

Things are getting worse when councils can do such significant things without asking the people who voted them into office and who pay for it all.

Things are getting worse when a loss-making department is turned into a loss-making company when the best way to serve the people would be to (a) run the departments better, or else (b) scrap everything and get quotes — the private companies quoting would obviously be unable to meet the sudden demand, so they would naturally have to employ experienced and qualified people — in other words, those who used to do the job for the council department.

This would separate the wheat from the chaff, and we’d get the best people for the best money, but no, we’ve got the wrost people for the worst money — and the government mechanism put in place to make councils more cost-effective has been by-passed.

Wise Up To Banks

POOR BANKERS.

Not so long ago we were occupied in hunting them down for their years of illegal and excessive charges and fees, and we got refunds galore until the pre-trial freeze.

Then some banks tried to be rotters — saying they would charge us to have a current account — while others tried to be warm and cuddly.

Now we have the credit crunch and the financial system is in turmoil!

So I thought it would be nice ot have a reminder of when (only a few months ago) some banks were trying to be customer friendly…

From a web site called Influx insights, an article on Barclay’s Bank showed that they were trying to rebrand to get rid of the old ways — and this even extended to language.

For example, instead of ATMs, they would use “Hole in the Wall”.

This was announced on the Barclay’s web site with their marketing director’s quote:

“Banks have for a long time come across as unfriendly simply by the way they communicate to customers. The chain on the pen sums up the relationship banks have had with their customers for too long — basically we don’t trust you to leave this pen behind after you use it, yet we expect you to entrust us with your life savings. It’s about time we redressed the balance and made ourselves part of the twenty first century – and a free pen is a small gesture to show customers we value their custom.”

“Equally we will be using language that everyone knows and understands. Instead of having signs saying ‘Customer Service’, we will be replacing them with ones that simply say ‘Can I Help’. That awful acronym ATM will also go, to be replaced by words like ‘Hole in the Wall’, after all I don’t know anyone in Manchester who goes to an ATM to get money out, but I know a fair few who pop off to the Hole in the Wall. Overall, this use of simple, accessible language will complement our main work which involves offering great value for money to our customers.”

Ah, pity we have the present problem.

While we are on the topic, what ought we to do about it?

We were e-mailed this, so I cannot give credit to the original website, and we ask that you please accept our apologies for the “bad word” used in this graphic. Remember to double-click on the image to open it in a larger format for easier reading.

This is a common-or-garden variety decision grid. The rows are options outwith your control, the columns are decisions you have the power to make, the intersection of row and column is an outcome.

I think it is obvious that the best thing to do is to withdraw all your savings, investments and pension immediately.  You heard it here first!

Best of luck!

General Bigotry

BIGOTRY AND SECTARIANISM ARE EVERYWHERE STILL IN GLASGOW; IT’S JUST EVERYDAY BACKGROUND NOISE.

The newspaper board states:

“GERS PUT
GUARD ON
NOVO AFTER
NET BIGOTS’ THREAT”

Rangers, Celtic, Christian vs Christian. How sad indeed.  Things are getting worse when the bigotry can use new technology to scare a family.

Antisocial lighting?

SUPERMARKET FIGHTS ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR USING LIGHTING!

Hard to believe I know, but it seems to be true — according to the sign in a Morrison’s Toilet.

It says:

CAUTION

The lights in this toilet

have been altered to deter

antisocial behaviour.

It may take a few minutes

for your eyes to adjust.

Can you believe this? Is it possible? Does it work? Is is safe? Is it legal? Is it moral? Things are definitely getting worse when this sort of thing can be allowed to occur without debate. I think the public ought to be informed that they may be subjected to conditions and forms of behavioural control.

Police Exemptions

BAG IT AND BIN IT is the law — and if you do not pick up your dog’s poop, you can get fined on the spot… unless you are the police.

Police Dogs and Police Horses can poo anywhere — check out the picture (click on the thumbnail to enlarge), and no-one has to pick up their droppings!

On top of that, as evidenced by the photographs, they seem to think they can use the red lane sectioned off for the exclusive use of Buses, Taxis and Bicycles!

Apart from the obvious flaunting of many laws, look at the danger this shit represents to the poor bicyclist.  Not just in attracting flies for them to swallow, but they present an obstacle or slipping hazard.

Things are getting worse when the police think they can do whatever they want.  It seems to be a case of one law for them and another law for the rest of us!  They are literally riding roughshod over us, and crapping on us from a great height! How ironic!

The Big Rubbish Scam

GLASGOW COUNCIL HAVE FINALLY REALISED THAT THEIR RUBBISH REMOVAL SCHEME IS RUBBISH.

We have posted many articles here about this, check them out…

• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2008/03/01/litter-to-the-council/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/07/01/what-a-dump/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/06/18/sofa-so-good/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/05/08/litter-bugs/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/05/01/rubbish/
• http://gettingworse.wordpress.com/2007/04/24/streetlitter/

Unfortunately, instead of doing anything constructive or positive about all the rubbish we have to put up with, the city’s answer is to put up posters!

And these posters carry a threat – we could actually be fined if we do not put rubbish out on proper days, and if we do not keep everything neat and tidy!

The responsibility is ours – not the city council’s! What do we pay council tax for?

There is always a let out clause with the council rubbish uplift — it’s called Health and Safety. If there are rats, they can refuse to uplift. What then? According to an article in Glasgow’s Evening Times:

“Patrick McManus, 34, an architectural technician who lives in a nearby block in Calder Street, said:

‘It’s starting to look like Paddy’s Market.
‘There are rats everywhere and notices up in the back court warning people about them. It’s a health risk. I’m just sick of it. I’m trying to sell my house and am paying my council tax, so why can’t they sort it out?’”(Evening Times 30 July 2007)

Glasgow City Council even has a web page dedicated to the rat problem:

• Pest Control: Rats

There is also a 24 hour telephone number: 0141 287 9700 and select option 3.

“Do not expect instant results. Rats are naturally wary of new food sources and it may be some time before they are comfortable eating the bait. Once they start to feed on the bait it can take between 3 to 10 days for the poison to be effective. You must make sure that children and pets never get access to any rat poison”

The British pest Control Association can provide a list of exterminators on-line — it’s very short and simple form:

• http://www.bpca.org.uk/

The BBC warned about rats back in 2002 when all this rubbish on the streets began — see:

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2164999.stm

By the way, rubbish, vermin, filth and litter is not a local problem, it is countrywide one:

• The One Show

This BBC TV program shows that even though people are paying council tax, they are having to resort to picking up litter themselves.

Amazingly, this approach is actually a formal and official procedure in Glasgow!  As part of the “Clean Glasgow” Campaign, volunteers are encouraged to collect litter in their spare time — and for no pay!

• Volunteer Litter Picking — organised by the city council

The Glasgow evening newspaper took the amazing step of printing lists of names of people convicted of littering — to a good deal of controversy! Check out their defence and the readers’ comments:

• Litter Louts Dropped Us in This Mess

The”Clean Glasgow”campaign is costing an estimated £4 000 000 this year. In my opinion, four million pounds is a lot of money to supply bin bags for volunteers, rat poison, rat helpline and some posters. The Evening Times naming and shaming campaign printed lists in blocks of 500 — that means each list represents a block of income of on-the-spot fines of £50. So one list would bring in 25 grand!

The council are making mugs of us.  If you drop a cigarette butt, you are fined £50 on top of your council tax.  Meantime, the putting the rubbish out front policy is leading to health and safety issues, which in turn means that rubbish cannot be uplifted until somebody calls the 24 hours rat helpline, the poison takes effect and then perhaps the volunteers can arrive to do the work (bin bags supplied, of course).

The only way out of this is to have the city council change policy back to placing rubbish in lanes and away from the pavements.  That would encourage people to refrain from dropping litter, and make everywhere better and cleaner. Admittedly, the problem will have shifted round the back — but is it not better to have the rats there instead of where we all walk?

More rubbish bins and better collections would be good too — and could be paid for from the vast profits of the on-the-spot fines.

It is adding insult to injury to ask volunteers to pick up rubbish and remove piles of fly-tipped goods.  At the very least this should be a punishment meted out to people with ASBOs — perhaps a form of community service?

Things are getting worse, when we put up with this scam, and when we allow councils to shirk the community responsibility tat is the reason for their very existence!

IHF (I Hate Football)

“BJK” is everywhere as graffiti, and so I said one day,

“That BJK” gets about — wonder if it’s a girl or boy.”

“It’s not someone’s initials; it stands for ‘Big Jock Knew’.”

“Big Jock — whoever that is — knew what?”

“Knew about Alan Brazil and the others”

“Who is Alan Brazil?”

“Brazil played for Spurs and Manchester United.”

“Ahah – a footballer!”

“Yes, he was a Scottish footballer but he then became a DJ on Talk Sport, but he had a drink problem”

“A drink problem?”

“Yes, as a result of what happened to him when he was a wee boy”

“How, what happened to him?”

“Well he started off playing for Celtic Boys Club…”

“Celtic? I thought you said Spurs and Manchester United”

“No, he never played for Celtic. Celtic Boys Club has nothing officially to do with Celtic, it just has that name”

“How can it get away with that name if it has nothing to do with Celtic?”

“That’s the whole point — Jim Torbett who founded and named the club — wanted people to make that connection to ensure success for his venture. He got a lot of boys as a result, which is a pity as he was a paedophile.”

“A child molester?”

“Yes, he got jailed back in 1996 for it, and Alan Brazil’s testimony put him away”

“So Celtic Boys Club was just a sham or scam…”

“Not entirely, it wasn’t all and only about molesting kids, it actually managed to feed players into the system, some through Celtic as well. It’s still going, and it’s still as independent as it was back then”

“So what’s this got to do with this ‘Big Jock’?”

“‘Big Jock’ is Jock Stein. He was the manager of Celtic at the time when Jim Torbett was abusing Alan Brazil and the rest.”

“Sorry, but I don’t ‘get it’”

“Well they’re saying that ‘Big Jock Knew’ about the child abuse.”

“Did Jock Stein abuse kids too?”

“No, no, no, Jock Stein got a CBE from the Queen, the man was highly respected all around the world. He’s rated as one of the ‘Big Four’ — the so-called ‘Great Quartet’ of Scottish football managers, along with Bill Shankly, Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson. He was even voted The Greatest Scottish Football Manager for his work with Dunfermline, Hibernian, Celtic and Scotland. He is something to be proud of, an example, a great Scottish figure — he died back in 1985″.

“OK, I have to say that I have a lot of information, but am none-the-wiser! WHO is saying that he knew that this bloke was child molesting? — and why would someone want to bring down a great Scottish role model?”

“It’s just the old Protestant versus Catholic thing, Rangers versus Celtic.”

“So Jock Stein was a Roman Catholic?”

“Nope, Jock Stein was a Protestant”

“But Celtic is Roman Catholic and Rangers is Protestant, yes?”

“Not really, Rangers had an historical thing about being anti-Catholic, it’s all transferred over from the troubles in Northern Ireland, but it’s far from logical or rational. Rangers for years wouldn’t employ a Roman Catholic, and so their support tended to be people who resented non-Protestants. Celtic employed anyone of any persuasion, but the support naturally adopted the opposing and equally extreme values of Rangers, their main rivals, and this included the Northern Irish rubbish too”.

“Why would one type of Christian resent another type of Christian?”

“Well, it’s not as if the people involved go to church or read the Bible. It was in the workplace, nationalised industries, for example, were considered to be ‘closed shops’, employing only Protestants. When Roman Catholics came back to Britain, they arrived at Liverpool and Glasgow. Just like the Jews before them, the Roman Catholics could not get work, so they inevitably became self-employed. They stuck together, had large families and helped each other become successful — and their flashy cars and big houses were resented by the majority living in vast council estates in and around Glasgow — those who suffered most in recession and in Thatcher’s privatisation.”

“So it’s not really about religious bigotry, because it is not one religion versus another religion. And it’s not sectarianism (about one Christian sect versus another Christian sect) — it’s about Jealousy and envy and money basically?”

“Not even that simple. Things have changed over the years; there’s no ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland any more, and Rangers employ Roman Catholics, and people have bought their council houses — so a lot of the old distinctions are blurred.”

“But they are spraying ‘Big Jock Knew’ and ‘BJK’ everywhere, I just don’t get how that is supposed to work.”

“To spell it out: They are saying that there is a tie-in between Celtic and this private boys club, and that as a result, Jock Stein knew about the child abuse — but did nothing about it. It’s a shameful secret — some dirty laundry against Celtic and Saint Jock Stein…”

“Nope, it doesn’t make sense to me! Protestants are slagging off a successful — the most successful Protestant Scottish manager — they are attacking someone who is long-since dead and cannot refute anything — they are ruining a good role model, besmirching a memory, harming the surviving family simply to taunt Celtic fans? That’s insane!”

“It doesn’t really make sense, but none of this Celtic vs Rangers stuff does that”

“But has no-one asked themselves why Jock Stein would do nothing? Why would anyone do nothing if they knew? From the sound of it, Jock Stein knew how to manage men, how to bond them together to make a successful team — this suggests an instinctive knowledge of psychology and sociology. He would, most certainly, have seen molestation as bad for the boys, bad for his team and club, and bad for football and society in general, and in my opinion, a person with that track record of success would have the authority and confidence to speak out. It’s actually sickening that we can sink so low”

“Things are getting worse — it’s all over the web now:

• http://www.etims.net/
• http://www.bigjockknew.com/
• http://members.aol.com/jocksteinletter/“

“No wonder I hate football! As a girl, I hate it, and as a sane person I hate it. This doesn’t help, but instead raises questions about this sort of thing each time I meet a guy– and that is a bummer, let me tell you!”

The BJK thing is a brilliant taunt, it is extremely annoying (and all the moreso now that I know what it means). That is what a taunt is supposed to do. I reckon it’s working well at raising hackles and more. But do I care? Well, no. Not really. I didn’t know who Big Jock was, so why would it bother me? There must be loads of people out there who have never heard of Big Jock or the other names. It was a long time ago, long before my time (I am only a young thing), so I don’t really care. All I care about is hating everything to do with that stupid game! What good has it done for Glasgow? We’d have been better off without football altogether.

The Future of Shawlands

PUBLIC NOTICES HAVE SPRUNG UP ALL OVER SHAWLANDS.

People are stirring things up — and I really do wonder why. What is the agenda — is there some secret conspiracy, a few people with vested interests? Hmmm.

The rhetoric of the poster suggests that things are getting worse, that Shawlands has seen better days, that it would be a good idea to have a Town Centre Action Plan and a Business Association. See for yourself; the Notices state:

PUBLIC MEETING TO DEBATE
THE FUTURE OF
SHAWLANDS
TUESDAY 29TH JANUARY
7.30pm LANGSIDE HALLS

Do you feel Shawlands has seen better days?
This is your opportunity to have your say on
what you think needs to be done. the council,
local Councillors and MSP Nicola Sturgeon will
all be there to hear what you have to say.
Does Shawlands need a Town Centre Action
Plan to further develop and improve our area?
What is happening with Shawlands Arcade?
Would a Shawlands Business Association help
businesses in Shawlands develop?
COME ALONG AND HAVE YOUR SAY

www.shawlands-strathbungo.org – www.g41.org.uk

Things are getting worse in Shawlands because things are getting worse in Glasgow — and in Scotland — and in the UK. For example, the new policy of putting household rubbish and shop wheelie bins on the pavement at the front of the property is not exclusive to Shawlands, neither is fly-tipping, dumping, litter, swollen hedges nor even Dog fouling.

Time and time again on this blog, we show that things are getting worse because of red tape, committees and interfering old busy bodies.

You cannot legislate for freedom, happiness and co-operation nor attempts to encourage understanding and respect for people, forgiveness, politeness or common decency.

• We do NOT need more red tape, more committees, more opinions, or more “say”.
• We do need less restrictions, less control, less red tape, we do need more freedoms, more quality, more personal responsibility.

The result of the last lot of stirring up was the addition of ugly double yellow lines at corners where people could not park anyway because of fences and bollards! (See New Restrictions in Shawlands) — what a waste of time and our council taxes! It has not stopped cars parking on pavements (which seems to be a bother for a few very vocal residents) — a problem that would simply be solved by adjusting the height of kerbs instead!

On this blog we often highlight the nonsense produced by town planners and traffic managers, (for example, The Wrong Way, The Daftest Bin, The Daftest Bus Stop, Traffic Lights Suck! and the so-called Traffic Calming schemes). We also show the lowering standards in design — such as the mess of the Clyde Arc Bridge, and our amazement in how poor quality building designs get planning consent and building warrants — such as The Most Horrible Building in Glasgow, The Bad & The Ugly, Ugly New Flats, and More Ugly New Flats, as well as Holy Balcony, and Waterfront Apartments Are Not Posh!

This is what council activity, red tape and public consultations gets you!

My opinion of Shawlands is worth at least a little consideration; I am very, very old, and have a long memory that still works pretty well. I can, for example, remember the queue at the Elephant Cinema for a Beatles film being so large it stopped traffic on Kilmarnock Road. I can remember the buzz of shopping on the world-famous Victoria Road with it’s fabulous Christmas lights — especially Pearson’s with that famous parrot! I can remember the trams, the chimney sweeps, the coal deliveries, and I reckon the last time I saw and heard the rag-n-bone man coming along Tantallon Road with his flat-bed truck pulled by a massive grey Clydesdale was in the early 1980s.

I would honestly say that Shawlands is roughly the same today as it was back then, no better and no worse relative to the bigger picture. What is true in my opinion is that things in general and in particular ways are getting worse, and we would do better to try to address the bigger picture than consider something like Shawlands in isolation. I say that we ought to fix the traffic calming, fix the problems with factors, and fix the rubbish uplifts — then the improvement to Shawlands would be incredible!

I can recall when Shawlands was cobbley, dirty and black with soot and grime. It was frequently foggy in winter and very, very smelly in summer. The trams disappeared along with the cinemas and the new shopping arcade and skyscrapers in Pollokshaws heralded good times, where the place was buzzing with boutiques and German Beir Kellers.

Later they got rid of the central parking, removed all the zebra crossings and started to block off all the side roads near Victoria Road. This killed off the Victoria road shopping area supposedly in favour of out of town shopping, but this just put pressure on the West End and Shawlands. There was a lot of demolition of slum tenements across the city, and a lot of out-of-town developments for offices, factories, shops and council estates.

However, despite these two areas being major shopping districts, property values in the West End increased much better than the south side because Shawlands had a serious subsidence problem due to the tenements being built on tin mines.

During the property price boom of the mid to late 1980s, there was a lot of power cuts, and a lot of problems with the cart flooding too. Shawlands began to fill the tin mines and shore up the tenements. At this time, the whole of Glasgow was regenerating with lots of grants — and it was all about stone cleaning, reroofing, new windows, rewiring and removing lead piping and old attic tanks.

Today, Glasgow is facing the next round of issues — the roofs are now over 20 years old, the wiring is needing redone, the windows too — the tenement stock is in need of attention once again. People bought their council houses back then, so there is a demand for public housing. There is also a serious need for new affordable housing for first time buyers, so they are building a lot of new (ugly) flats at Eglinton Toll and elsewhere. There is a re-appraisal of the high-rise skyscrapers Glasgow was once so fond of — many are marked for demolition (but which cannot be exploded due to the asbestos dust problem).

Shawlands MUST be taken in consideration of the greater city-wide picture — for example, the nearest hospital will be the Southern General as the new Ambulance and Diagnosis Centre will replace the ancient Victoria infirmary. The new motorway links, the expansion of the subway system, the Commonwealth Games and the city redevelopment and regeneration all will affect Shawlands just as much as has Braehead and, more recently, Silverburn.

I would suggest that the people of Shawlands fight for the removal of traffic lights, speed humps and parking restrictions to encourage shoppers and house buyers and to free up congestion. They should fight to have the rubbish put back in the lanes and back courts for uplift — out of sight of the street, they should fight for cleaner pavements, for more regular cleaning, better litter bins, more public toilets and so forth. Everyone should be demanding better — better flood defences, better telephone and television reception, better quality homes, better property management, better conveyancing, better customer services, better interest rates and better looking, better designs.

It’s common sense, improvement is all about better, and for things to get better they have to first stop getting worse. Shawlands cannot be improved in its own!