Diarhea Trains

Interesting journey in to New Cross today. As I entered the station they were saying that they were only advertising trains they knew to be running.

Well, good.

Inquiries suggested a major signal failure at London Bridge. Quite what that means, I don’t know; and it is beyond the linguistic abilities of Southern Trains to tell us.

There are signalling failures every day. It seems.

I did write to them some time ago, suggesting that as most trains are a few minutes late, they might add a few minutes to every arrival time. No response.

I am making something of a study of Southern’s announcing, purely informally, to pass the time while I wait for trains.

Slowly they are phasing out explaining delays and they only give reasons for what I believe they regard as acts of god. Signalling comes into that.

There was an episode of Startrek where vast underground halls are filled with machines which maintain automated services. None of the indigines understands them. “The Old Ones built them.”

Same with our trains. The old ones built the signalling systems. They go wrong and now witch doctors are called in to pray.

Sometimes, I believe, it has been suggested that the services of Jimmy Mubenga Disposal Society be utilised – for a small human sacrifice.

Signalling is not the responsibility of Southern. They’re still trying to understand train vehicles. (When it rained the other day water poured through the roof of my carriage – 77587 was the number. See how well I committed it to memory; but I did nothing with the memory. If I reported it, they’d throw it away: “It’s not my job to report faults.” Who do I contact? “I don’t know.” Why not? “It’s not my job to know.”

I asked them twice why they don’t put pressure on those who are in charge. No answer.

There is another question.

The CEO of Jimmy Mubenga Disposal Company said he regretted signing the contract to supply guards to the Olympics.

I have often wondered why our train companies signed contracts to supply what they cannot supply because of their own incompetence and the lack of infrastructure.

Apart from greed and the hope they could get away with it.

And they do get away with it. Look at JMDC! Still hoping to charge for management services. Management?

There was no information about S E London services. At that time of day, everyone is going to Victoria or changing to Overground. They are supposed to provide a seamless information service; but they believe that saying “we have no information” and making no attempt to get it is adequate.

Tubs of lard for ever!

At West Croydon, which I got to on time, the train I had left stayed at the platform for ages, over five minutes, with some airhead advancing the “Expected” time 1 minute as each minute passed. Up to date information you see.

Then the 10:09 to Highbury (Overground) was announced; but what was displayed was “7:22 delayed”. I should say it was.

After a while that changed to “10:09 delayed”; and we all knew why.

Signalling.

No, a Southern train in the way at the platform. Southern should have their own tracks; or even better a sandpit, with plastic Tonka trains, for real thick managers.

Then the Overground arrived at its usual funereal pace. We got on. I got off. Almost on time.

It takes much longer when there are no problems with the signals. Or seems to. Truth is, it’s all random. A room full of monkeys pulling levers and making announcements at random. Sometimes something appears to work.

G4S

With all this bad publicity, G4S needs a rebrand. What about calling it the Jimmy Mubenga Disposal Company?

NHS - no hope saloon

An item from Scilly Today, which “is the Isles of Scilly’s own daily, seven days a week, online newspaper.”

An Islander “was flown off the islands earlier this year with a suspected aneurysm.”

After tests at Treliske Hospital, in Truro it turned out he had sciatica, but was discharged in “excruciating pain” and had to make his way home. He has a place in Penzance – 25 to 35 miles away

He said he was left alone, in pain and couldn’t even stand. He rang the islands’ hospital, but they wouldn’t help as he wasn’t in the area. He was told to “get himself up to West Cornwall Hospital.” That’s in Penzance

He complained  to a health watchdog which said it was sorry but things might be better in the future. (my words)

The trust said it was sorry too; and it hoped things would be better in the future

Someone responded online: “I remember going to Treliske a while back and passing a person lying on the concrete pavement of the bus stop outside the main entrance. People were asking her if she was alright, and her response (between groaning) was that she thought she had severely damaged her back, but she was told it was only a trapped nerve and was given some painkillers and told to go home.”

My new roof-mounted missiles

My roof mounted missiles arrived this morning. They were in place and tested in no time; and I must say that the installers were both very knowledgeable and very friendly. I shall always recommend MoD. I was happy to pose with them, expressing my delight by laughing and throwing my arms in the air.

I was a little unsure about the wisdom of the idea at first. Their argument, however, was rather convincing (“Well, they’ve got them in East London”) and they let me have a ground-to-ground system and "local aim and fire control" if I didn’t make any fuss; and they'd turn a blind eye to what they called proportionate response to such things as loud music and burglar alarms that are left for a long time.

They will consider replacing any missiles used free or at cost if I can demonstrate that I have lowered demands on the state – e.g. by taking out members of the sick or unemployed.

We tested one at MoD expense on the fat unfriendly ginger tom on the other side of the street. It never saw it coming. Fur everywhere, burning; and all bodily fluids vapourised before they landed. That’s security

The private sector

A few weeks ago, there was an article in the Guardian by a senior person in G4S, perhaps the person who is now saying how sorry he is for his incompetence. It was quite an angry assertive article, claiming that private companies are effective and moral.

I don't see anything effective or moral about what we know now, though what we now know comes as no surprise.

I think it is worth pointing out that G4S is the private sector.

Only last night, on R4, they were running a repeat of one of this year's Reith Lectures by Niall Ferguson, a political tract in favour of the private sector, or what he would call freedom.

Challenged over his stats and data, he said stats and data prove anything you want, don't bother with stats and data, go and see for yourself; so then we listened or were expected to while he told us his subjective opinion of schools in new york.... and then a while later he was back refuting other challenges by demanding people look at the figures

And now we have one person basically accepting responsibility for letting down the well-named Low Cog, which is astonishing and I am still waiting to hear there's a catch, while most others involved are saying it isn't them, yes, they knew, but no they didn't know

In the morning I shall get on a private sector train and the chances are it won't run on time. Chances are the information provided will be crap. Oh but they say their information needs improving and they're working on it. They said that five years ago. Jam tomorrow; never jam today.

When I tried to log in to the net today, the private sector wifi was down because of “maintenance or a temporary fault or congestion”... i.e. we haven't got a clue but we do know that we are running on inadequate bandwidth

ie fuck off

If you have any faith in the private sector, just have a look at how it's doing, at how it's explaining away almost everything it does... look at the small army of people employed in trying to stop it running off with our wallets.... So what is there to have faith in?

A bakers at the top of the hill where I live seems to be honest and organised. Theyre not perfect but they do say when they have screwed up. A small family business on Scilly which provides me services too; a number of businesses there – when I was recently battered by rain I was given a dry space to sit, day after day, where I could at least write if I couldn't walk, and no recompense sought or wanted. In January, a man who took me between islands on his boat, and it's a working boat, and declined even the price of a beer.

A friend told me the other day of a plumber who treated her fairly... And a few other examples. Honesty and / or competence are so rare that one comments on it.

But the bulk of what is called THE PRIVATE SECTOR consists of bullshiters, buffoons, cheats... add your own words. Every day we are given evidence of that; yet people still laud it.

Don't waste my time with “Look at the public sector!”

That's irrelevant. I saw a short piece today suggesting that Barclays will argue they're not so bad because others have behaved as they have. Irrelevant.

Nor is the world binary anyway

Fred Wigg towering idiocy

The people with missiles on top of their tower block have had their court case dismissed.
“Justice Haddon-Cave said the MoD had no duty to consult.”
I suppose that’s similar to the way that MoD assumes it has had no duty to consult for over half a century as they have made all of us targets for nuclear attack for no apparent reason.
Apparently Mr Injustice Hadron-Collider said that no conspicuous unfairness was caused by not consulting the people upon whose homes they have perched their ridiculous death machines.
So there’s some inconspicuous unfairness then.
He said: "The law and the facts militate against the claim for judicial review.”
I’ll believe him on the law. There’s a lot of it and reading it is, to me, like scooping up someone else’s vomit and chewing it. But what facts?
A bunch of fools who can’t keep to a budget and are prone to buy the wrong equipment have put offensive weapons on top of people’s homes. Someone should review that. Someone convincing.
Hadron-Collider says: "In my judgment the MoD's voluntary engagement with the community and residents in this matter were immaculate".
Immaculate is an interesting word. As is voluntary. That’s as in civil service? Service.
The BBC, from whom I took these quotes, says: “The missiles form part of a comprehensive security plan for the Olympic period, protecting key venues.”
Who says it is comprehensive? Who says it protects anything?
David Forsdick, appearing on behalf of the MoD, said the decision over where to position the missiles was taken at the "highest levels after rigorous scrutiny".
That’s highest level as in Click Negg and the Prime Mobster? Those buffoons?
“He said it was signed off by the prime minister, deputy prime minister, home secretary and defence secretary in "defence of the realm".”
Ah, the realm. This piece of shit washed over by an oil slick, this blasted piece of snotty tissue sticking to my shoes, this eyesore, this fart embodied.
“He rejected the allegation the block could become a focus of terrorism. He told the court: "The MoD, intelligence agencies and the Metropolitan Police do not consider there is any credible threat to the Fred Wigg Tower from terrorism."”
That’s the MoD, the intelligence agencies and the same Metropolitan Police who have been so right in the past.
No credible threat. We are back to the special pleading of people of faith.
“He said that view was supported by a witness statement from Dr Campbell McCafferty, head of UK counter-terrorism at the MoD.”
McCafferty, McCafferty, there’s no one like McCafferty.
I found one page on the web about Fred Wigg Tower. It carries an advertisement for warcraft. (That’s a registered trade name. People make money out of it.)
Nothing says who Fred Wigg was. Maybe he worked for the MoD

Click Negg

Negg used to be fashionable. He's certainly an idiot and doing a lot of damage -- for which he is well paid.

Yesterday, it is reported, he said: "I am not going to predict the vote tomorrow, which I believe we shall win."