The cuts continue ...

6 April

Dorktown News has a FaceBook group and on there this morning is a report of further cuts the county council are going to have to make. Top of the list it seems, is the emergency on call system and wardens for all the council run sheltered housing complexes will be withdrawn. Each of flats in the complex has a red pull cord in each room. By pulling the cord you get connected to an on duty emergency warden.

Some of us have pendants that we wear because at times the cords are in hard to reach places. It sounds daft I know, but here in our living room the cord is behind my computer desk. If one us is here on their own and they have need of help and can’t move while at the other end of the room, then the cord is useless. So, we have the pendants, which is still part of the same system. If these cuts go ahead we lose that safety line. I can see people dying because of that.

At what point I wonder will the politians learn that defending life is worth paying for. Or is it just another sign of the ageism that is sweeping the country.

Have you heard of ‘skanking’? Basically, drug dealers are taking ordinary every day products and selling them as narcotics. As usual the buyers have no idea what they are buying. Some examples have been shown to be ground up paracetamol, but anything maybe in the wrap they buy. Some such deals could be life threatening and cops are taking it very seriously. As for me, I have no sympathy for the buyers. There’s enough information out there warning of the dangers of all drugs and yet they are willing to take the risk when buying and using them.

Why should the taxpayers, through the NHS have to pay to pick up the mess when it goes wrong? But where do we draw the line here? What of drunks, smokers and obese people? Should they get free help? It’s hard to decide where that line should be drawn isn’t it. The costs of treating all these groups of people is huge and is growing daily is seems. Perhaps one answer is make it compulsory for everyone to have some form of public liability insurance. It sounds OK on the face of it but can you imagine how high the premiums would be? That’s why so many cars are on the road without insurance; legal requirements mean nothing to those drivers, and forcing people to have something similar would have a the same effect in all probability.

Today’s photo is of part of Centenary Square in Brum …

And today’s funny is brought to you via the Sage …

 When everybody on earth was dead and waiting to enter Heaven, God appeared and said, "I want the men to make two lines: One line for the men who were true heads of their household, and the other line for the men who were dominated by their women. I want all the women to report to St. Peter."
Soon, the women were gone, and there were two lines of men. The line of the men who were dominated by their wives was 100 miles long, and in the line of men who truly were heads of their household, there was only one man.
God said to the long line, "You men should be ashamed of yourselves; I created you to be the head of your household! You have been disobedient and have not fulfilled your purpose! Of all of you, only one obeyed. Learn from him.

"God turned to the one man, "How did you manage to be the only one in this line?" The man replied, "My wife told me to stand here."