h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

That's interesting because Muhammad Ali was also on Parkinson although I'm not sure if Michael J fox was.

F.

Globalisation: Britain loses manufacturing jobs because it is cheaper to produce elsewhere, and it is cheaper to produce elsewhere because they don't have the same health & safety standards, working conditions, employ children etc:

"Fourteen-year-old Yanoor who, under the terms of an industry agreement, should not have been working at the factory at all, has needed several operations after her legs were crushed by falling beams.

She too has had no compensation. She is eager to get well so she can earn for her six brothers and sisters, and her father. Her mother died in the rubble."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24080579

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-24122993

What they don't mention is that the "new viaduct" they're gushing about would mean that that tiny little bit of track you can see cut in two is all that remains of the world's first and therefore oldest passenger rail service.
It's now owned and run by MOSI, several researchers here have been on it.
But if Network Rail get their way, this *incredibly* important piece of industrial heritage will be lost simply so that people from Liverpool or Leeds don't have to use the cross city tram service.

Which is also expanding an upgrading, and planning to go through some rather sensitive archaeological areas.

But hey, that's Progress(tm) for you!

Tough call - it sounds like a very useful upgrade to the rail infrastructure up there. Is there anything on that line worth saving, or is it just the fact that it's the site of the first service?

The line, the bridge it's on and the stations it serves. It's all owned and run as an attraction by MOSI.

As for the new routes usefulness? It has none. You can already get from Liverpool to Piccadilly, and from Leeds to Piccadilly. The only difference is that you'll no longer have to change trains for direct access to the airport.
The whole thing is a sham so that the new Manchester Airport expansion can have "better" rail links from the other northern cities.

Sounds like a bit of biased reporting by the BBC, then. If they're building viaducts I don't see why they can't avoid this line altogether.

It's actually a very congested old area, as it's where all the old train lines used to cross over each other anyway. But yes, you'd think they'd be able to raise it up and leave the old one be. I think the old one is actually listed too, but that'll soon go knowing the local council around here.
To them culture is something you can buy from the big gifts donated by the planners and architects.

You can get from Leeds to Liverpool, Leeds to the airport and Liverpool to the airport all without changing. I've done all of them.

If you wanted to improve the east-west connections there's better options: upgrading the diesel line between Lime Street and Victoria would be one, doing something about the congestion between Stalybridge and Huddersfield would be another.

There's probably spare capacity on the Victoria-Leeds line, upgrading it to a higher speed line and re-routing some Trans-Pennine services that way during the weekends would help greatly.

Yup, they're upgrading Victoria Station, removing the old iron and glass roof in the process.

To be fair, that's been needed for over a decade. The roof in Victoria is neither use nor ornament.

I love it, it was a good example of engineering that actually looked nice.

But then they bulldozed a lot of it for that slab of an arena, and are now removing the rest of it for a "shiny" modern thing that's going to look awful in just a few years.

The artist impressions all show sunny skies and people wandering around under a bright glass roof. This is Manchester, it rains here. A lot. All artist impressions used for planning permission should be forced to show it absolutely chucking it down with rain under grey overcast skies.

Sexy Sweets

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/6096788/Haribos-MAOAM-candy-criticised-for-sexual-sweet-wrappers.html

Mr Simpkins, of Pontefract, West Yorks, told The Sun: "The lemon and lime are locked in what appears to be a carnal encounter.
"The lime, who I assume to be the gentleman in this coupling, has a particularly lurid expression on his face. I demanded to see the shop manager and, during a heated exchange, my wife became quite distressed and had to sit down in the car park."

... And how exactly did he think those sweets were made?

Another nice one today, from APoD, for the equinox:

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130922.html

Isn't it nice to read of people going above and beyond the call of duty to help others?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23989422

"Aaran Stewart does not react well to change.

The 21-year-old has severe autism and obsessive compulsive disorder, but has to negotiate the hectic bustle of Heathrow airport to attend Boston Higashi High School.

To cater for him, staff have attempted to recreate the same conditions every time he flies.

Four times a year for five years, Aaran has met the same airport staff, at the same check in desk, visiting the same shops, leaving from the same gate onto a plane on which the exact same seats are reserved


Well done the staff at Heathrow

Amazing story!

If that happened to me it would spook me into having a compulsive disorder.

"More than 80 elephants have been killed for their ivory by poachers who used cyanide to poison a water hole in Zimbabwe's largest game park: Hwange National Park.

Wildlife department officials said the chemical also killed smaller animals and predators which feed on them."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24234927

By poisoning watering holes one can certainly decimate a whole area.

~jwf~

http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/25/men-dressed-as-oompa-loompas-picked-a-fight-with-passers-by-4113016/

Two men dressed as Oompa Loompas picked a fight with passers-by because they didn’t like what they were wearing.

Louis Gelinas and Matthew Wright were in fancy dress as the Roald Dahl characters – famous for their short stature, green hair and orange skin, a court heard.

The pair ‘somewhat ironically’ targeted their victims over their outfit choice on a night out, said prosecutor Stephen Spence.

-----------------------------

I will admit to having ed at ‘somewhat ironically’


Geggs