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Lessons from the worst episodes of our history – politicalbetting.com
Lessons from the worst episodes of our history – politicalbetting.com
55 years ago this week, a man-made landslide of coal mining by-product killed over 100 Welsh schoolchildren. It was a tragedy. It was preventable. And it got me thinking.
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I found the 24/7 coverage for about 5 solid days quite stressful but my girlfriend at the the time wanted to watch it...
Anyone interested in railway safety history, I’d recommend this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Illustrated-History-Majestys-Railway-Inspectorate/dp/0992739810
MaxPB said:
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GPs became walking, talking prescription writers and now the nation is adjusting to that. I think most people realise to get any actually real diagnosis you have to go to A&E for the hospital doctor to take a look. Another one that irks me is the three times a GP missed my grandmother's gum cancer despite knowing her history as an ex-smoker. It was only when my granddad took her to see a family friend who is a consultant dentist that it got spotted, months after the first GP appointment. That was 25 years ago (sadly she died a year later because the cancer spread into her lymphatic system), the GP just existed to write prescriptions and make patients go away for a while. If anything it's got worse since then.
I said:
A couple of years ago now I was feeling pretty grotty in a non specific way. I went to see my GP who listened to my somewhat incoherent tale and then really looked at me. He said, "you're never here, I think we need to investigate this further". A few days later when the bloods etc came back I received a message to leave my court case and go to Casualty without passing go. It turned out that I had clots on my lungs and a pulmonary embolism. I genuinely do not think it is over dramatic to say that GP saved my life.
Two points from this anecdote. Firstly, this would almost certainly not have happened had I consulted him by phone. Secondly, although GPs can get ground down by the 10 minute interview mainly for chronic conditions about which they can generally do little, especially as the patient does so little to help themselves, there are many exceptional doctors out there doing their very best.
Part of the problem is that people ask for enquiries sometimes out of genuine concern to find out what went wrong and avoid a repeat, but also sometimes just to make a political point - "we were right" or "they were wrong". The more technical the disaster (missed train signals, oilwell disaster) the better the chance of the former, since few people really wanted to pin blame on a single individual. I'm afraid the demands for a Covid enquiry fall more into the latter category - "We can't believe that Johnson can get away with thounsands of unnecessary deaths" vs "We need to show that our brilliant vaccination programme saved the nation". The Hutton Iraq enquiry fell into that category too. That sort of enquiry just doesn't work - people who approve of the conclusions claim to have been vindicated, people who don't say it's a whitewash or a stitch-up (everyone liked Hutton until he disagreed with them).
I am slightly ambivalent about this. There was a story on here yesterday about the prosecution of a Boeing executive for effectively manslaughter. I immediately and wrongly jumped on the outrage bus. He was a patsy, it was absurd that one person could be responsible for such systemic fault, it was letting the company off the hook. And then @Sandpit pointed out that the person was the man responsible for signing off the safety certificate on the plane. Which made me feel even more stupid than normal.
Studies of accidents, especially medical negligence, that I have read emphasise systems above all else. We all hate the tick box and the tick box mentality even more but Pip is right to say that systems are the key. Safety needs to be built into routine. On the other hand personal responsibility is important too, like the guy from Boeing.
""In an attempt to save Boeing money, [Mr] Forkner allegedly withheld critical information from regulators," said Chad Meacham, acting US attorney for Northern Texas. "His callous choice to mislead the FAA hampered the agency's ability to protect the flying public and left pilots in the lurch, lacking information about certain 737 Max flight controls."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58926196
He has been charged with fraud. Not to gain millions of dollars for himself, but for the company. The company put him under f'loads of pressure to ensure that the 737 Max could fly without new training for pilots, saving Boeing money. He did not do it for himself. That is why IMO he is a fall guy for much greater failings within the company. Some interesting emails from and to him have been released as well; some do not paint him in a good light, but show the pressure the team were under.
I feel rather sorry for him. Perhaps mistakenly, but there you go.
Btw, Lakanal and the other tower block fires are not the only antecedents to Grenfell on British soil in living memory. Though the series of failures highlighted were less applicable to other buildings, the total breakdown of communication between builders, architects, planners and materials suppliers leading to catastrophic breakdown in the safety regime were central factors in the Summerlands fire that killed 50 in 1973.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lgbt-activists-get-word-mother-axed-from-government-policies-q6q6bxtf6
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/15/why-britons-are-tolerating-sky-high-covid-rates-and-why-this-may-not-last
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/15/why-are-britons-so-much-more-relaxed-about-covid-than-europeans
It found four Brits in Europe..... who all LOVE masks and vaxports, and not one dissenter. Hmm
As an aside, sometimes disasters can have rather odd but beneficial consequences. The terrible Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash in 1952 killed 112 people, and occurred near RAF Northolt. A US medical unit rushed out to the scene of the crash, including a black US nurse - Abbie Sweetwine. She managed a triage process, marking patients with her lipstick.
It was the moment that the idea of triage entered the UK medical consciousness.
https://collegeofparamedics.co.uk/COP/News/the_angel_of_platform_6_abbie_sweetwine.aspx
I've also seen it claimed that the Titanic disaster has saved far more lives than it claimed, as the publicity around it forced dramatic changes to maritime safety - and not just in the numbers of lifeboats carried. Without the Titanic disaster, it might have taken many more years for these changes to come in - and perhaps after WWI.
But when the public, or parts of it, is desperate for someone to blame, as over Hillsborough or Iraq or Chinese flu, there will always be more catharsis from an inquiry that tells them what they want to hear. They probably won't even read the highly technical recommendations, just the summary is in the press that says "X cocked up". In fact, as the truth is rarely that simple, the public is very rarely satisfied. But that doesn't stop people asking for them, and politicians feeling they have to grant them.
They constantly try to escape
From the darkness outside and within
By dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good.
Carrier pigeons were rare.
Like many ex-military people, a very nice gentleman.
To an extent a bit of risk makes life interesting. I used to love ski-ing, horse riding and motorcycles for example. It is part of the interest of my job too, the machismo of taking on cases that no one else wants to do.
Of course that might not be the situation
Just realised I was posting on an old thread so in response to @Philip_Thompson post on that thread and regarding whether parties should stand in by elections caused by assassinations:
After the 3 assassinations by the IRA/INLA all parties fought the following by elections, although in fact only 2 took place because one was too close to a General Election. I was surprised at the time by the public's reaction at the Eastbourne by election. I thought they would swing behind the Conservative candidate in an act of defiance against the IRA. There was also a swing against the Conservatives when Michael Portillo won in his by election. The public are more hard nosed than I would have thought.
I agree with Philip, there are arguments both ways as whether parties should stand or not. It is important to give the message that we will not be beaten by terrorism, but which gives that message best.
Nolan Investigates Stonewall
Available now on @BBCSounds
https://twitter.com/StephenNolan/status/1448585564589002752?s=2
I see the "line to take" includes emphasising Stonewall is a "charity". If that makes it above reproach then both Eton and LGBA are also beyond criticism. Good to know
https://twitter.com/FionaKabuki/status/1449289314140098562?s=20
It doesn't really explore the ramifications of this: that we've been told to expect the apocalypse, several times, and yet we haven't seen it, and now we are bored, and we yawn and shrug and go to the pub
Whether this is wise or not I dunno. I haver between thinking the Guardian has a point, we should be more frit, and then I go into the centre of London and it is rocking and no one is masking and life is basically normal and I think: great. We have accepted a new level of risk. We just got there first
Good luck
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintinshill_rail_disaster
After a disaster costing lives it's not simply that the public are desperate for someone to blame. This implies there never is anyone to blame - but sometimes there is. There are people whose incompetence or complacency or recklessness caused what happened to happen and where this is the case it shouldn't be hidden behind a "bad system" and "lessons learnt" smokescreen.
Also, consider not the public but the victims. It's only natural they wish to see justice and what they mean by "justice" is not lessons learnt but the culprits brought to account and punished. They want to see the people responsible pay a price. This urge has to be tempered by the greater objectivity of those not directly impacted, and it mustn't override the facts, but it should always be in the mix. It's been the driving force in the uncovering of many scandals over the years.
Thanks to @Quincel for interesting header btw.
https://twitter.com/maj_retd_fox/status/1448953316378091520?s=21
Question: How much more did the BBC spend producing a 10 part series investigating @stonewalluk than it pays to Stonewall as a Diversity Champion? Reminder that Stephen Nolan receives over £400k annually from the BBC according to latest figures. Free FOI idea there (mine in).
https://twitter.com/benjamincohen/status/1449315474454548481?s=20
Especially in the young. They are never going to lock down again. And I don’t blame them
From what I have seen over the past decade or so the assumed institutional protection that did exist for people in a similar position to me, of which there are many, is withering away. The likely consequence is that the quality of people in these difficult front line decision making roles will decline significantly, with more disasters and consequential public inquiries.
We had a traumatic (is there any other kind?) miscarriage, followed by a pregnancy where we lost one of twins in the very early stages. However, the other baby grew fine (though of course we were on tenterhooks all the way through) and is now my lovely and perfectly healthy oldest daughter, and she was followed by babies 2 and 3.
I am sure you just had an unlucky roll of the dice. There's no reason to think the dice are stacked against you.
Best of luck, however you approach this.
Chestfeeding is a thing already.
https://news.sky.com/story/hospital-trust-becomes-first-in-uk-to-adopt-gender-inclusive-language-for-perinatal-services-12214018
When at 4am on Sunday morning we got a taxi to the airport, there were thousands of young people out on the street - it felt like Soho does around midnight. Literally rocking, so mask compliance does not appear to have affected the city's nightlife. One thing, though, case rates in Portugal are under 1,000 a day, whereas they are c.40,000 a day in the UK.
We need to live our lives and get on with things.
Edit: JJ got into the block ahead of me!
Sending my love to your wife.
But she should talk to her doctor to see if there are any underlying reasons for this rather than have her and you worry about what might happen again. And if there aren't then you should take heart that you can conceive and that with luck and good care next time all will go well.
On the specific murders in the case of Airey Neave and Brighton Bombing I don't think any blame can be laid at the Govt, possibly the security services. Obviously things have moved on since then and what was the norm then would be considered irresponsible now, but one can't compare now to then.
Ian Gow had blatantly ignored official advice about his security and he was considered a target. I don't know whether he was being irresponsible or it was a case of he wasn't going to let the bastards get the better of him. I suspect the latter.
Interesting observation by you though and I will bear it in mind. The biggest impact in the Eastbourne by election was the LD by election machine.
But it is so very common. I've been just thinking about it, and the majority of couples I know seem to have gone through at least one. It is something that is mentioned, but not talked about in detail. But on the more hopeful side, all of them went on to have a further successful pregnancy.
I hope he has, and wish him and his wife well.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-males-can-lactate/
One thing that I found difficult* was that men tend to bury their own feelings on these things and approach in a problem solving manner. While this has some merit, it is often received as being unfeeling. Women often feel shortchanged of understanding and emotional support by such an approach, however well intended. Men are just as emotional as women, but have been socialised into expressing it differently.
A bit of counselling may be as important as the physical side of gynaecology. Best of luck, having children changes lives, and often in unexpected ways. They have their own personalities from the start.
*without going into detail, the seven year age gap between my boys was unintentional and an emotional roller coaster.
First time in The Smoke since March 2020. Staying in a different Travelodge this time, however.
On a similar point to the Titanic, it was thought that the disaster of Operation Tiger in advance of the D-Day landings that killed well over 1,000 soldiers in a friendly fire incident helped to secure the success of D-Day, because of lessons learned (especially over ships operating at different times).
Friday October 15 2021, 12.01am
I think that makes that around about Thursday midnight.
One thing I do think that MSM picked up from PB was Amess in 92 that was playing much of the morning on #skynews
Bizarrely, he phoned up his sister to tell her - only to discover she'd had the very same diagnosis the same day. Thankfully she also survived.
On a more positive note, my sister-in-law (my brother's wife) miscarried in Jan 2019, just days after informing us and her folks that she was expecting. But within six months, she was pregnant again, and gave birth in Feb 2020. My little nephew is doing well, they dressed him up as Superman for the nursery's "Superhero Day" only yesterday!
Slowly they've become used to not wearing masks, socialising freely and everything being open as normal and then in September and October they went back to their home countries to visit family and when they got back they invariably bitched about the stupid rules in their home countries and accepted that we've got it right here to live unrestricted and let the vaccines do the work of keeping COVID under control.
The Italian contingent were the real converts, the most scathing about our lack of masks and then the most scathing about Italy's complicated rules around COVID after they'd come back. Almost all of them said they were relieved to be back in a society that has put it behind them.
@RoddyQC
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4h
Is it April the first? Surely it must be? As otherwise tales that we cannot speak of “mothers” in scotland any more would be true.
Thank you.
There may be support for you known to those whose primary role is to support your partner.
There are similar examples around of how it sometimes works *organisationally* - eg Al-Anon for families of people impacted by Alcoholism. Perhaps have a word with support services available for her, and see if they can signpost you to anywhere which can help you find out how to approach it.
HTH.