The 3 Towns Arms

[Ian]

 

[Bri Roberts]

I obviously missed something exciting whilst I was away on my sunshine cruise for 2 weeks!     

Yorkie, which cruise ship were you on?

[DaveR]

'Festers Rod', eh? Glad to say I've never seen it.   

[Yorkie]

Yorkie, which cruise ship were you on?

It was the Braemar, one of Fred Olsen's ships.   Never been with this line before but we liked the experience despite a few shortcomings.   Time in Ports of call was too short and a bit too much time at Sea.   However, all other aspects very good, food, cabin, entertainment etc. etc.   We especially like these smaller ships with only about 820 passengers.    We did berth alongside  a monster of a cruise ship in one Port that had over 3000 pasengers on board!   More like a small town that a cruise liner!   

We went from Dover and the drive down on the Friday, for Saturday departure, took 7 hours with heavy traffic on M6, A14, M11, M25 and M20 into Kent.  Stayed at Premier Inn for £29 that night.  Trip home was only 5 hours including a break for coffee and a sarnie.   All in all a nice Spring break!   

[Bri Roberts]

We cruised with one of her sister ships, Balmoral, a couple of years ago and loved it.

By coincidence, we visited Barcelona as well.

We also drove a similar route as you did and the day before to stay at the same Premier Inn in Dover.

Last week, I booked my wife and daughter onto another of Fred’s ships, Boudicca, on a last-minute two night cruise from Liverpool to Dublin in a fortnight’s time.

[TheMedz]

Completely unrelated to anything that's been posted before but as far as evidence against the accused goes I think this one takes the biscuit.

(Men may wish to cross their legs before reading this URL)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13594762

[Pendragon]

Prof AMSM Sharfuzzaman, a senior surgeon at the Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital in Barisal town, told the BBC it had not been possible to reattach the organ.

"We are treating him so that he can urinate normally without the penis."................sorry what?  How do they think he'll manage that then?   

[Yorkie]

Better get your medical books out and have a look at the male anatomy!     

[Pendragon]

Aah ha...............

[Pendragon]

I was reading on Oscars today about bottled water and how the price can be drastically different between brands.  It reminded me of the news story in 2004 regarding a brand called Dasani by Coca-Cola.  They lost millions of pounds and rightly so.  First it was discovered that Desani was in fact ordinary Thames tap water and then it got worse for them when all bottles were removed from UK shelves as the product contained twice the legal amount of Bromate causing a cancer scare.


First, Coca-Cola's new brand of "pure" bottled water, Dasani, was revealed earlier this month to be tap water taken from the mains. Then it emerged that what the firm described as its "highly sophisticated purification process", based on Nasa spacecraft technology, was in fact reverse osmosis used in many modest domestic water purification units.

Yesterday, just when executives in charge of a £7m marketing push for the product must have felt it could get no worse, it did precisely that.

The entire UK supply of Dasani was pulled off the shelves because it has been contaminated with bromate, a cancer-causing chemical.

[Pendragon]

Did anyone watch Panorama last night.  the programme focused on The Winterbourne View Residential Hospital in Bristol which houses people with learning difficulties and Autism.  If I'm honest the only reason I watched this programme was so I could comment on it, every part of me wanted to turn it off as I found it increasingly difficult to watch, it was disturbing and I could feel myself getting more and more annoyed, my blood was boiling by the end.  13 people were suspended and 4 have been arrested.  People are so outraged and disgusted a face book page has been set up.  This private hospital charges £3,500 a week each for these patients and although a senior member of staff expressed his concerns last year, nothing was done!  That same member of staff was the whistle blower on this occasion and thank god he did as this would probably never have come to light.  I'm glad that these bullies have been named and shamed,  I think their problems have only just begun.  Criminal charges will no doubt be brought but they have more to fear from the backlash from the public I think.  I wouldn't want to be in their shoes but then they should have thought of that before physically and mentally abusing, torturing and causing distress to vulnerable people supposedly in their care.  I hope they get exactly what they deserve. 
The regulators were told, the Care home management and owners were told and yet still nothing was done, why?  Probably because funding would be withdrawn.  Disgraceful.  It's a bit late for them to show remorse now, it's taken a whistle blower, Panorama and an undercover camera to bring this to the fore.  Now the Police will carry out investigations and it's about time too.



BBC iPlayer - Panorama: Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed

[Yorkie]

God help them if they get prosecuted, convicted and finish up in clink!   

[Pendragon]

Judging by the posts on the face book page.  I think they'll be safer behind bars.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jail-The-Winterbourne-View-Mental-Health-Carers-who-abused-patients/178690845518436

[DaveR]

God help them if they get prosecuted, convicted and finish up in clink!   

I doubt the murderers, rapists, thugs and drug dealers have any higher moral standards than these morons?

[Yorkie]

Probably not, but offenders against children or the vulnerable are not well liked by "normal" criminals who have their own ways of dealing with such people.