10/06/14

[Maik]

Rik Mayall may have died after fit in wake of bike accident

Rik Mayall, the much-loved comic actor, has died in what may have been a consequence of the quad bike accident that nearly claimed his life 16 years ago.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/comedy/comedy-news/10887901/Rik-Mayall-may-have-died-after-fit-in-wake-of-bike-accident.html

Maximum motorway speeding fine set to rocket to £10,000

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10887161/Maximum-motorway-speeding-fine-set-to-rocket-to-10000.html

Chile lift slams man into roof after rocketing 31 floors in 15 seconds

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/10886847/Chile-lift-slams-man-into-roof-after-rocketing-31-floors-in-15-seconds.html

Injured man trapped in 1,000m-deep cave in Germany

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/injured-man-trapped-in-1000mdeep-cave-in-germany-9517169.html

'Passport delays' spark summer holiday concerns

Hundreds of British holidaymakers could have their summer holidays ruined due to lengthy delays caused by an application backlog at the passport office, according to reports.

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2014-06-07/passport-delays-spark-summer-holiday-concerns/

[Maik]

More sheep with found infected with bluetongue disease in Peloponnese

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_10/06/2014_540434

Three policeman hospitalized after dog attack

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_10/06/2014_540435

[Bryan-in-Kilkis]

How's the dog?

[Misty]

Re the Passport Delays, the BBC News reported that some of this was due to a big increase in renewal applications. More holiday makers for Kef possibly!!

[APB]

The excuses provided by Cameron re the passport fiasco are laughable. As an ex civil service employee working on performance, I know that the simple thing to do was at the beginning of the year to generate a systems report advising the total number of existing passports due for renewal within the next 6 months. From this they could estimate the number of man hours required to meet the targets and employ the staff accordingly.

Simple planning and organisation....not a well developed skill of government. Just crisis management with pathetic excuses.

 

[Phil]

How's the dog?

Put down humanely I presume.

[Phil]

The excuses provided by Cameron re the passport fiasco are laughable. As an ex civil service employee working on performance, I know that the simple thing to do was at the beginning of the year to generate a systems report advising the total number of existing passports due for renewal within the next 6 months. From this they could estimate the number of man hours required to meet the targets and employ the staff accordingly.

Simple planning and organisation....not a well developed skill of government. Just crisis management with pathetic excuses.

 

It is a pity you left Alan. The Civil Service could do with more staff with your attitude and skills, but I suspect the workers are just told to shut up and get on with it............ which often means covering up for the incompetence of their leaders.

[Maik]

Simple planning and organisation....not a well developed skill [...] Just crisis management with pathetic excuses.

... I suspect the workers are just told to shut up and get on with it............ which often means covering up for the incompetence of their leaders.

Had me foxed there, Al. Could've sworn you were taking about Greece, if it weren't for the mention of Cameron. For anyone who thinks Greece is idyllic, welcome to reality. Hm, the key to crisis management could be proper management so as to avoid the crisis in the first place. Waste of f*cking time trying to explain that one out here.