Moving the US Air 'Hudson River' A320 to a Hangar

This picture series of 11 Photographs forms a follow-up to the post on the 26th January 2009:
Recovery of US Air Airbus A320 from the Hudson River

This post covers the transport of the Aircraft Fuselage through the streets of Red Hook New York State during its transfer to a Hangar for detailed examination:






















Copyright Unknown.

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Banks Continued Failure to Provide Loans makes a UK Depression Inevitable

Article Updated: 11th February 2009 at 0600 GMT

Having contacted the Author Mark Jago, he has given me permission to post his article.

In the financial world they have saying that a rising tide lifts all ships. US and UK government policies by deregulating financial industries and neglecting to provide responsible oversight, combined with Fed Chairman Greenspan's low interest rate policy has brought about an over stimulation of the world economy and the creation of market bubbles. In hind sight it's easy to see why this happened, the 2001 technology bubble should have been a wake-up call to US and UK policy makers. However, as we now know they did not heed the warnings.

Mortgage companies made money by selling large mortgages at low "teaser rates" without regard to the fact that their clients would not be able to make the monthly payments at normal interest rates. Banks made high profits by leveraging up their subprime mortgage loan portfolio and packaging them with high quality debt that was sold on as high quality debt into world debt investment markets.

US Federal Chairman Greenspan retired and was replaced by Dr Bernanke. Dr Bernanke immediately instituted a policy of interest rate hikes that led to the collapse of the US housing market bubble. This exposed the fraudulent excesses of the US and UK financial systems which in turn led to a rapid stock market crash and the freezing of global banking market liquidity.

Subsequent government bailouts of the banking system have been little more than a band-aid solution that have addressed some of the crisis symptoms but have done nothing to mitigate the consequences. The UK government bank bailout was a reactive response and a measure of last resort in an attempt to stave off a financial catastrophe. The US decision to bailout the banks rather than buying the toxic assets came about because there was no understanding about the size of the toxic lone problem.

The tide of global financial liquidity has disappeared the consequences of government's management of the UK economy has now been laid bare for all to see. The symbiotic relationship between the government and the City of London that allowed for the parasitic siphoning of wealth into the hands of a few is broken. However, old habits die hard and it's not surprising that it's been reported the Royal Bank of Scotland now owned by taxpayers intends to hand out a 1 billion pounds in staff bonuses. While at the same time they are calling in business loans, forcing companies into bankruptcy protection, destroying tax revenue and adding to UK workforce un-employment.

The North Sea oil Company Oilexco is an example of the damage being done by the UK banks and by the UK Government's failure ensure the integrity of the banking system. It was one of the UK's most active developers of UK oil and gas has been forced into bankruptcy protection after RBS withdrew its banking line of credit. The New technology that this Canadian oil company had been using had the potential of revitalizing North Sea energy production and providing the UK economy with much needed revenue.

What was initially primarily a US, UK financial crisis has now become a rapidly deepening global crisis. The UK has become an unreliable partner that can't be relied upon to do its part to support foreign investment and investments in the future of its own economy. The party is over in Britain, there is a limit to the number of times investors will accept being burnt. The world now understands clearly how things are in the UK and unless there is significant change in UK policy it is at risk of be viewed in the same way it views a certain failed African state.

The time for talk by the UK Prime Minister is over immediate government action is required NOW. It's clear that are funds available for bank bonuses, then funds MUST be made available to support companies like Oilexco and by doing so to support the UK economy and energy industry. The UK Government and banking industry track record is such that they clearly are un-qualified to make the judgement call on what merits an appropriate investment.


M.J

Related Posts:
5th January 2009:
Banks Risk Scottish North Sea Oil industry and Britain's Energy Future
7th January 2009:
Oilexco In Adminstration - Will other Dominos Fall

If you found this article interesting then the Idle Man recommends the following blogs:

BBC Blog: - Stephanomics - Stephanie Flanders, the BBC's economics editor

BBC Blog: - Peston's Picks - Robert Peston BBC Business Editor

BBC Blog: - Nick Robinson's Newslog - BBC Political Editor

Pondering the Israel, Gaza Situation.

The Idle Man has avoided posting on the recent Israeli Incursion into Gaza, primarily because my thoughts on the entire episode have been contradictary:

Before going further a map of the entire Gaza Strip:

• I fully understand why the Israelis decided to take military action. Having daily rocket attacks into your villages and towns requires action to stop it. As Hamas seems impervious to any diplomatic or economic pressure, military action was the only option left. As to whether the action was proportionate, is not a subject I feel qualified to judge. Unfortunately this has not stopped many just as unqualified as I, making pronouncements in Newspapers, or through Broadcast Media.
• I have immense sympathy for ordinary Palestinians who have been wounded, traumatised, lost love ones, homes, or livelihood.
• I intensely loath Hamas and its core agenda, but admit it has played its few cards extremely well and in many cases has trumped the incredibly slick and well organised Israeli PR Machine.
• I found the British Media's whining about the restrictions placed on them by the Israelis annoying, as none of them apparently tried to report from the Egyptian Side of the Gaza Border and the stalled supplies and medical volunteers stranded there, because Egypt for very good reasons kept the official border crossing closed. Maybe the Egyptians refused them access, if so they didn't mention this. Also none of them tried to get past the Israeli Naval Blockade on the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps our fearless reporters felt that even if this didn't endanger their lives, it might endanger their careers as if caught they would never work in Israel again.
• In addition Western Media have an unfortunate tradition of endangering the lives of their own servicemen and women due irresponsible reporting and one can therefore understand the Israelis being reluctant to let them anywhere near the front line.
• I agree with the BBC and Sky refusal to broadcast the British Disaster Emergency Committee Appeal. Although this puts the BBC and Sky in a no-win situation, the decision is correct as this is not just another humanitarian disaster, but a political minefield. A minefield involving the fact that the Gaz Strip is governed by a Terrorist Organisation dedicated to the destruction of Israel and is anti-semitic and anti-christian. This coupled with the delicate political situation regarding the other Palestinian Enclave on the West Bank, plus Egypt, Jordan as well as Israel, means that any station broadcasting this appeal is sending a political message, that many will see as a statement of position, rather than simply a request for relief donations. I find it sad that ITV and Channel 4 have decided to Boradcast, but it is a free country, so it is up to them.
  
• At a personal level, whilst I accept that in many disasters some of the donations end up in the hands of the Corrupt, in this case, unless I receive a written guarantee that any monies donated will NOT be accessible by, pass through, or be paid to Hamas Officials, or Agencies, or Agents, then I will not be donating anything. I have never (at least knowingly) donated money, a proportion of which has ended up in the coffers of a Terrorist Organisation and I am not going to start now!
  
• The senior clerics of the Anglican and Catholic faiths in Britain have 'waded in' criticizing the BBC, yet they have been strangely silent over the plight of Palestinian Christians who have been persecuted for decades. I suggest that before having a go at the BBC and Sky, I suggest you start looking at what you should have been doing to help the Christians who live in a climate of persecution and abuse. He who casts the first stone..

Other Posts on Gaza in this Blog:
Hamas and Humanitarian Aid to Gaza, 06/07 Feburary 2008

Recovery of US Air Airbus A320 from the Hudson River

The recovery operation was carried out on the 17th/18th January 2009:








































Copyright Unknown


A reminder how the Crash Landing was reported on the 16th January 2009

There is now a follow-up post covering the Transport of the Fuselage through the streets of Red Hook New York:
Moving the US Air 'Hudson River' A320 to a Hangar

Strike One For Alitalia

The Reborn Alitalia is 7 Days Old and today (20th January) already has had its first strike (as against the mere disruption caused on its first day).
Admittedly this lasted a mere 4 Hours and is more a 'flexing of the muscles' by the union involved, SDL rather than a full scale clash.

This mini-strike still resulted in 22 Flights being cancelled including 6 International services!

So what was this strike over?
According to the SDL Union:
The protest was over new labour contracts and the criteria used to hire employees as part of Alitalia's relaunch.

Surely this was all resolved in the incredibly protracted negotiations between CAI Investor Group, the Unions and the Italian Government prior to the relaunch?

Actually I don't think the answer matters, just the conclusion and that is nothing has changed (so far), and the New Alitalia is the same as the Inefficient, Unsustainable, Old Alitalia.

Previous Posts on Alitalia in this Blog:
14 January 2009: Alitalia - Unions spoil first Day
13 January 2009: Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?
Last Year:
06th October 2008:
Alitalia - Is the Opera entering its final act?

13th September 2008:
Alitalia - Have the Unions Killed the only hope?

29th August 2008:
Alitalia Files for Bankruptcy Protection

29th July 2008:
Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off?

A Soldier's Life Compared with Yours

Introduction
The following is a taken from a chain email forwarded to me.
Whilst it features Canadian and US Army Soldiers and has a distinct Canadian Theme, its message applies just as much to British and other Coalition Troops currently serving in combat zones:

A Soldier's Life Compared with Yours:
Your cell phone is in your pocket.
He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to; his dog tags:


You talk trash about your 'buddies' that aren't with you.
He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.


You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.


You complain about how hot it is
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.


You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He doesn't get to eat today.


You make your bed and wash your clothes.
He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.


You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.


You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.


You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.


You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.
He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.


You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.


You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.
He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting


You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.
He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded


You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him


You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.
He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.


You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.


You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long.


The email chain asks you to support your troops and send the email to 7 people. For once I agree and if you do receive it, please forward it on.


Each Day take a moment to remember our troops:

Alitalia - Unions spoil first Day

The New Alitalia was officially reborn yesterday and the Unions couldn't even hold back to allow the relaunch to pass without incident!

• Alitalia workers wary of the impact from a new alliance with Air France-KLM demonstrated at Milan's Malpensa Airport by chanting slogans and waving union banners, causing delays.
• At Rome's Fiumicino Airport, delays of more than two hours were reported as workers marched outside.
  

The above does NOT bode well for the future of the reborn airline.

See the previous post: Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?

But on a lighter note, the following is what I think is a great quote on why the original Alitalia went bankrupt:
"Alitalia died of grandeur," Augusto Fantozzi, who ran it during its bankruptcy told L'Espresso magazine. "It paid triple for everything. To give you an example: it would send three cars to pick up cabin crew, in case the first got a flat tyre and the motor broke down in the second. It was a waste."
Whilst this was part of the problem, a less colourful, but more encompassing summary of the reasons for the failure of Alitalia from Airwise/Reuters:
The state-controlled carrier soon became a vehicle for political favours, and its unionised staff, who enjoyed lavish perks, prevented efforts to restructure to meet the 21st century challenges of an aviation downturn and low-cost competition.

Alitalia Reborn - But will it Survive?

Today the 13th January 2009 Alitalia is officially reborn. Now owned by the Investor Group Compagnia Aerea Italiana, shorn of its non-Airline Operating activies and having absorbed the commercially oriented and efficient Air One, the new slimmer Carrier is officially relaunched.

Also although not yet signed and sealed, the Air France-KLM offer to take a 25%, 320 million euros stake in Alitalia seems almost a certainty. The previous front runner for this investment, Lufthansa, lost its position when it annouced it was starting its own Italian Airline, Lufthansa Italia. Although Lufthansa may, even at this late stage make a bid to top Air France-KLM, this seems unlikely.

Whilst it is a miracle that Alitalia has reached this point (the Pope's prayers for the Airline seems to have helped), and the investment from Air France-KLM (or Lufthansa) will keep the company going for a while, the factors that will determine whether Alitalia has long term future are complex and many are not under its control.

• The ongoing Global Economic Crisis and its effect on the Airline Industry.
• The new labour contracts with the Alitalia Unions must produce the cost savings and productivity they are designed to produce.
• Those same Unions must not revert to their old ways of immediately launching crippling strike action whenever a problem, however minor occurs between them and the company.
• How Alitalia copes with the new commerical realities with Ryanair increased presence in the Italian Market and the launch next month of Lufthansa Italia, which will cement Lufthansa's already major presence in Italy.
• Currently Alitalia is a member of the Skyteam Alliance (includes Air France-KLM), but due to not integrating its computer systems, it does not maximise the benifits. It also retains a 'foot in the door' with the Star Alliance (includes Lufthansa). Once the 25% Stake deal is signed, upgrading and profiling the Computer Systems has got to be a major priority.
• Getting Passengers to Fly Alitalia is also going to be a major problem. The frustration over the Airlines history of long delays, cancellations, poor in-flight service, and a 'take it or leave it' attitude when dealing with customers, is a major hill to climb, in regaining passenger loyalty.
• Although it no longer controls its Ground Handling and Heavy Maintenance operations, industrial action in these organisations will be just as crippling to the new Alitalia, as it was to the old one (70 Flights from Rome were cancelled due a Ground Handling Strike last Wednesday).
• Finally, the European Low Fares Airline Association filed a complaint with European Commission last Thursday over the €3 tax, levied since October on passengers leaving Italian airports under Italy's "Save Alitalia decree," amounted to €100 million of
  illegal state subsidies to Alitalia each year.

So will Alitalia Survive in the long term?
As an independent entity, probably not!
As the Italian Division, after been absorbed by a major European Carrier, probably yes!

Other Posts on Alitalia in this blog:
06th October 2008:
Alitalia - Is the Opera entering its final act?

13th September 2008:
Alitalia - Have the Unions Killed the only hope?

29th August 2008:
Alitalia Files for Bankruptcy Protection

29th July 2008:
Alitalia - How long before the life support is switched off?

Oilexco In Adminstration - Will other Dominos Fall

As has been expected, Oilexco North Sea Limited has gone into administration. Oilexco was used as a case in point in Mark Jago's Article:
Banks Risk Scottish North Sea Oil industry & Britain's Energy Future
published in this Blog on Monday the 5th. We now have to wait and see if this is the start of a domino effect and other Oil Exploration Companies and those who supply them discover their funding has dried up.

British North Sea Oil and Gas provides the United Kingdom with some level of independence in Energy Needs.
No Exploration, No Infrastructure Expansion and No Innovation, due No Funding is going to have a disastrous impact on Energy Costs and indeed stability of Supply (if Russia keeps playing Games) in the next few years, let alone in the Medium and Long Term.

As Mark said in his article:
Successive British Governments have enjoyed massive tax revenues from North Sea Oil, now is the time to put some back into to those companies working to ensure a more efficient means of maximizing existing fields and using advanced technology to exploit new resources. As the banks seem to be unwilling to invest in the future, the Government should transfer some of the money earmarked for the rumored further bank bail-out into more equitable funding of North Sea exploration.

Electricity Supply Independence by New Generation Nuclear Power Stations and significant contributions by Alternate Technologies are years away. Gas will be a primary requirement for many decades in Industrial and Consumer Applications and however much research is being done in finding suitable alternatives to oil for Vehicle use, Oil is going to be the mainstay for the foreseeable future.

So HMG get some serious money into supporting North Sea Exploration and Extraction and while your at, it starting thinking about rebuilding the Coal Industry for synthetic oil, using technology to make coal gas, appear as if it is natural gas and finally using the new technologies to build the new 'greener' coal fired power stations.

Related Posts:
5th January 2009:
Banks Risk Scottish North Sea Oil industry and Britain's Energy Future
10/11th February 2009:
Banks Continued Failure to Provide Loans makes a UK Depression Inevitable

Banks Risk Scottish North Sea Oil industry and Britain's Energy Future

Having contacted the Author Mark Jago, he has given me permision to post his article.

News that Oilexco one of the most innovative and technically advanced oil and gas exploration companies operating in the North Sea is almost certainly going to file a petition for Administration for its UK Subsidiary after funding has been withdrawn by a UK bank. This not a case of a company failing due bad management, but a 'sign written large' that the future is extremely bleak for other Oil and Gas Exploration Companies operating in the seas around Britain.

Whilst in Britain we are regularly shocked by the mega-profits of the major oil companies, we are rarely made aware of the other types of Oil Industry Companies, those who specialize in exploring for new reserves and applying advanced technology to existing fields to maximize their potential.

Taking the specific case of Oilexco which won the Technology Uptake prize at the 23rd Scottish Offshore Achievement Awards in March 2008,
This Company which is publicly listed on the London and Toronto Stock Exchanges and is based in Calgary Canada, specializes in fast tracking oil and gas development into commercial production, utilizing appropriate technologies to do this at the lowest possible per barrel cost.

Through its UK Subsidiary Oilexco North Sea Ltd the company has been in the process of taking over an existing Oil Production Platform and then upgrading it to take advantage of better technology and to use it to supply both oil and gas that would have been previously burnt off as gas waste. This in turn has required the company to fund and build a new pipeline for the Gas Production. These projects combined early ordering of hardware necessary to fast track future production expansion are expensive and therefore very large loans were required to carry them out.

This dependency on Banks loans as resulted in two interlined problems. Firstly that an over extended Bank, would place very onerous conditions resulting in the company not realizing most of the cash flow benefits from existing production and that as the overall global financial situation worsened and the oil price dropped, cut off funding altogether. .This is certainly what happened in the case of Oilexco and analysts are already intimating that other companies are in the same situation.

What effect would the total failure of Oilexco North Sea Ltd have?
Well during the first quarter of 2009 Oilexco would have started to add production that would have resulted in the more than doubling of oil production this year and added to UK supplies of natural gas. Significant oil field discoveries made during 2007 and 2008 would have resulted in a material increase in North Sea output over the next two and a half years.

Had the bank extended the existing funding through 2009 and committed to supporting existing operations Oilexco and shareholders would have had the time to commit the necessary capital to ensure successful survival of this company and its ongoing North Sea development. The bank would have also had the opportunity to continue profit from an ongoing successful relationship with company.

Last weeks Oilexco news came at a time when gasoline prices in the US hit a low for the week averaging around $1.61 a gallon or under 42 cents per litre with Oil consumption of 19.9 million barrels 70 percent used for transportation down 3.7 percent from more normal volume slightly above of 20.6 million barrels. According to government EIA data raw oil at 60 percent, tax at 19 percent, with sales and marketing costs accounts for the price consumers pay at the pump. Canada is the largest exporter of oil and gasoline products to the US much of it from oil sands oil produced below cost at under $50US per barrel. Canadian prices were down in some Ontario locations below 62 cents Can per litre. Pump prices and oil futures were up Friday on OPEC news that 1.2 million barrel per day production cuts were completed on announced cuts of 3.4 million barrels and shipbroker reports of an 8.9 percent decline in on board tanker oil shipments.

Successive British Governments have enjoyed massive tax revenues from North Sea Oil, now is the time to put some back into to those companies working to ensure a more efficient means of maximizing existing fields and using advanced technology to exploit new resources. As the banks seem to be unwilling to invest in the future, the Government should transfer some of the money earmarked for the rumored further bank bail-out into more equitable funding of North Sea exploration.

The alternative will risk Oilexco drilling rigs and talented personnel being move to energy development projects away from the North Sea. Other North Sea oil companies partnered with Oilexco will also be negatively affected with future development being delayed or shelved. Oil production in the North Sea will decline more rapidly and oil import costs will balloon on higher priced oil and a declining pound.

Related Posts:
7th January 2009:
Oilexco In Adminstration - Will other Dominos Fall
10/11th February 2009:
Banks Continued Failure to Provide Loans makes a UK Depression Inevitable

Fotopic Reappears

This forms a follow up to my previous posts on Fotopic:
1st Fotopic Disappears - followed by a Deafening Silence
2nd Fotopic Disappears - But the Silence is broken

As Joel Rowbottom hoped the Fotopic Service resumed early this morning.

Whilst the Fotopic Operational Status Log has posted the following:

Mon 05 Jan 2009, 10:41 (logged by jon)

We apologise for the extended outage this weekend which was caused by a technical fault. There will be a full statement coming soon. Thanks for bearing with us.

Here is the Statement from Snappy Designs:
QUOTE:

STATEMENT FROM SNAPPY DESIGNS LTD, 5TH JANUARY 2009

Dear Fotopic User,

On Friday 2nd January 2008 photo sharing site Fotopic.net suffered a core equipment failure while upgrading the server and network capacity. As a result of this the Fotopic.net website was unavailable from approximately 9am on Friday 2nd January.

Despite our best efforts to resolve the situation the gallery service remained unavailable until approximately 10:30am on Monday 5th January 2008.

As a result of this outage we are examining our hosting capability and contingency plans, but wish to assure customers that Fotopic.net has not ceased trading and will be enhancing its services during 2009. No data or images have been lost during this time and all systems are back to normal.

Additionally we will be extending Plus and Premium subscriptions by an extra 2 weeks as a goodwill gesture.

We apologise for the situation which was ultimately out of our control, and would like to thank customers for bearing with us.

Best regards,

The Directors
Snappy Designs Ltd trading as Fotopic.net
UNQUOTE

Even though the promised full statement has been issued, users will be asking Snappy Designs some hard questions about why they didn't release some information via Internet News Services to mitigate the Fear Uncertainty and Doubt across the Fotopic User Community, that resulted in wild rumours and speculation.

However from the Idle Man's viewpoint with Fotopic back online, this will be the last post on the subject until...

Fotopic Disappears - But the Silence is broken:

There is NOW an update covering the restoration of service here: Fotopic Reappears
This Post forms a follow-up to my previous Post:
Fotopic Disappears - followed by a Deafening Silence

Thanks to one of the co-founders of Fotopic and former owner Joel Rowbottom there is NOW concrete information on the Fotopic Situation.

Please Note: Joel has worked hard to obtain this information despite NOT being an employee, director or Shareholder in the company that now owns Fotopic.He has done this to assist and he deserves to be thanked by all users of the service.

Here is the main elements of Joel's post on:
The Former Fotopic Users Group on Google (any highlighting is mine NOT Joel's):
QUOTE:

I've just got off the phone after managing to track down one of the directors of Snappy Designs. I asked them to post here but they have declined (I reckon because they can't get in touch with their PR people at this hour).

Therefore here is the news as I understand it:

1. The reason it's unavailable *is* a hardware fault with the interface to the outside world. The gentleman I discussed the situation with isn't an IP engineer so was unable to give me solid details on how it's failed but if I can be of assistance in getting it back up I will be - sadly the old Cisco 4000 series in my garage won't cut the mustard with at least a partial routemap! The router is intentionally powered down which could mean anything from a router failure to a cabling fault.
   
2. Snappy Designs is solvent - and they're injecting more cash into it to sort out Printshop and the rest. At that point (apparently) the Printshop system will change somewhat and be more "automatic". I don't have any more on that so please don't ask me for further details.
   
3. There is a plan to give Plus/Premium users at least a fortnight extension across the board.
   
4. It's 'hoped' that it (Fotopic) will be back in the early hours of Monday morning. I make that a 72-hour outage. I will keep track of what's going on and see if I can get further information tomorrow.
5. The architecture for Fotopic.net is still largely the same as when we left in May. This means that when it comes back it should be mostly OK - the image servers will probably take about 20 minutes to populate their caches during which it'll be a bit slower than usual. I have volunteered to be on standby to help the engineers if required.
   
6. There will be a full statement going out to all Premium/Plus users when it's back, which will explain things. I did ask if they had any plans to email their users prior to the recommencement of service but there are no facilities to email upwards of 60,000 people without the servers to handle it (which I can well believe, we have some "interesting" issues emailing Yahoo people en-masse for instance). SD said a statement will come pretty sharpish tho.
7. I'll be having discussions with Snappy Designs about the future of Fotopic.net, but please remember that myself and Nicky have been away
   from the front-line since May (with the exception of assisting with the odd support mail nobody else could answer, or when I've tried to assist with things they didn't understand yet). So please, please, please, the "Mr Angry" emails have to stop or I'm going to have to put this down again. I'm just trying to help here.
   

UNQUOTE
I think Joel is a star, but the fact that someone who is no longer has any formal connection to the Company has out of a sense of loyalty to his former customers performed the Customer Support task that was the responsibility and indeed duty of the current owners, I find frankly almost beyond belief.

Snappy Designs are going to have to answer questions which are going to be a lot harder to answer than providing the technical explanation of the problem.

Fotopic Disappears - followed by a Deafening Silence

Please Note: There is now a follow up to this post here:
Fotopic Disappears - But the Silence is broken:

Fotopic is one of the most popular photo sharing gallery sites especially for transport enthusiasts, which by 2007 hosted 76,400,000 Images from users in 204 Countries.
The site disappeared from the internet early on the 2nd January 2009 and at time of writing is still down!

There has been NO information from the UK registered owners of the company Snappy Designs Limited, their parent company Any-Web, and as for the Media, not even the specialist Internet/Computing Sites have picked up on what should be a major story!

The result has been Fear Uncertainty and Doubt across the Fotopic user community, with rumours and speculation rife.

This Deafening Silence is amazing when in normal times a two hour outage for one popular site results in stories appearing across the Internet News Pages with quotes from Company Representatives, Network Operator and a complete list of previous problems.
So why this time around nothing?.
Many Blogs are carrying the latest rumours, speculation and unverifiable comments from ex-Fotopic staff, but nothing concrete.

Someone somewhere MUST know the situation, but in the meantime, one place any Fotopic User should keep an check-on is the Former Fotopic Users Group on Google, which in the absence of anything useful from the Company, or Media is trying to keep people informed.

Even if Fotopic magically reappears, as David Beilby says in the Support group:
Quote:
If the Fotopic service resumes, there has been a loss of confidence which will take some restoration. In particular the complete lack of communication during an outage in excess of forty-eight hours is not good customer service.

If the business model is proving to be a bit shaky this affair will not do anything to make it
more robust. A single e-mail to all subscribers explaining what was going on would have been enough for most subscribers, although there are those who use it for business who will expect something more.
Unquote
Which summarizes the entire appalling lack of Customer Care and Service Extremely well!
But the question is why haven't the Media, or at least the specialist Media taken this sstory up?

Time to think of our British Wounded

When we watch the news, too often we hear in amongst the latest Economic Problem, Banking Scandal, Company Collapse, the Newscaster say 'Today a British Soldier/Marine/RAF Crew member was killed in Afghanistan/Iraq, or some other far off place and four were wounded' 

Then they move on to the next item probably someone with no real talent who has been deemed a celebrity by the media.
 
Unlike the old saying 'Old Soldiers never die they just fade away'. our Wounded it appears fade from our thoughts the moment the Newscaster moves on.

Fortunately one Charity has been formed to specifically help those who whilst not making the ultimate sacrifice have been wounded in the service of Queen and Country:

Help for Heroes (Support for our wounded)

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, who ultimately suffered much and sacrificed himself in our name, please remember those who who have also suffered much in the name of this country.

Gurkha Courage - Justice for the Gurkha's

A Gurkha soldier serving with the British Army in Afghanistan has been killed in action. Meanwhile four of his comrades in the Royal Gurkha Rifles have been awarded the George Cross, second only to the Victoria Cross in terms of gallantry awards. Once again the Soldiers from a far land are serving our Queen and Country in Combat. Their predecessors have fought and died in many lands on our behalf winning the admiration of those who served along side them and the respect of the enemy they faced.

Yet if they retired from the British Army prior to 1997 they do not have the right of residence in the UK See: Gurkha Justice Campaign Post

As Remembrance Day approaches it is timely to remind people that One hundred thousand Gurkhas fought in the First World War. They served in the battlefields of France in the Loos, Givenchy, Neuve Chapelle and Ypres; in Mesopotamia, Persia, Suez Canal and Palestine against Turkish advance, Gallipoli and Salonika. One detachment served with Lawrence of Arabia.
250,000 Nepalese Gurkhas served in the Second World War and in Britain's (so called) Small Wars to the present day


The Campaign led by Joanna Lumley now has the support of Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons and a Letter has been sent to the Home Secretary requesting that Right of Settlement be extended to all former Gurkhas 

So with cross party support, it shouldn't be difficult to get the relevant legislation drafted and passed in this Parliament!

Three Elections - Interesting Results

Due to other matters and being diverted by another issue, the Idle Man is behind the curve on posting about three important elections, so:

Glenrothes
Whilst back in July I saw the SNP victory in the Glasgow East By-Election as a much needed 'shock' to the current Government
(I enjoyed the Glasgow East By-Election), this time around as one who believes in the United Kingdom, the last thing I wanted was an SNP Victory. The pundits predicted it would be a close run thing between Labour and the SNP and therefore it was a relief when Labour won comfortably.

I found Alan Cochrane's Article in todays (8th Nov 08) Online Edition of the Daily Telegraph particularly Interesting:
Glenrothes by-election: Scotland independence question sank Alex Salmond's SNP as it sums up my views so much better than I can express them!

US Presidential Election
The lead up to this election retained by interest much longer than usual, but with 14 Days to go, I just got totally turned off by the amount of increasingly repetitive coverage being given by the British Media.

However as an Interested observer I was not so much impressed by the fact that Barack Obama won, but the scale of the victory.
Regardless of what happens Barack Obama as the first mixed-race Afro-American President elect has already earned a footnote in History. As President he is going to face serious challenges both at home and abroad, but is also burdened by expectations from his supporters which are so great, that no president could meet more than a proprotion of them. It is therefore vital that he and vice-president elect Joe Biden, build a strong team to support the new presidency that can work their way through the minefield of challenges facing them and with the support of a Democratic controlled Congress pushes through the agenda he has set.
I hope history will assess him as one of the great American Presidents, but only time will tell!

New Zealand General Election
In Britain the lead up to the New Zealand elections have been
over shadowed by Glenrothes and the US Presidential elections, the result marks a shift in New Zealand from Centre Left, to Centre Right, with the National Party winning 45.5% of the vote, to the previously incumbent Labour Party polling 33.8%.

Because of proportional representation system, to form a Government, John Key leader of the National Party is going to have to gain the support of several minor parties and the at least tacit support of the Maori Party. As the Maori Party views on some matters is highly divergent from those of the National Party, this could get interesting.

Helen Clark who has been New Zealand Prime Minister for 9 years, accepted responsibility for her parties loss of the election and will stand down as Labour Party Leader.

The Idle Man see this change as being as much about the electorate being jaded (Third-Term-Itus) about the Labour Government as a vote for National Party Policies.
As an observer, I have had mixed (in some cases extremely negative) views about Helen Clark's policies, but despite this believe she has been an important and overall one of New Zealand's best Prime Ministers.

BAA Refuses British Eagle Tribute Flight - UPDATE

This is an update to my previous post: BAA Heathrow Refuses British Eagle Tribute Flight

The BAA in its original statement as to why the Slots had been withdrawn, gave the reason as: They were concerned that the operation of the DC6 at Heathrow was potentially disruptive to normal operations.
To quote from my previous Post:
As every effort had been made to ensure that the DC6 operation would be no more potentially disruptive than any other Heathrow Flight, this is balderdash!


In the Flight Global News Article, the reason was: Congestion Concerns.
As the Slot Requests were originally granted by ACL (Slot Coordination Limited) Who are responsible for Heathrow Slot Coordination on behalf of all concerned, obviously wouldn't have granted slots if they had any indication that this would cause/exacerbate congestion.

In an email response Mike Brown (BAA Chief Operating Officer Heathrow) stated: To operate nostalgia or other flights of this type is totally inappropriate at such an airport.
This is interesting on several counts as:

• The DC6 has Operated a commemorative flight for the BAA from LHR
• If this was the policy, why were slots initially granted and arrangements made to waive landing and other fees?
• f the DC6 was carrying an AOG Spare, or a commercial cargo, would this have meant it was OK?

In addition, it should be noted that extremely well run European and US Airports welcome the occasional visits by 'Heritage Flights' and do everything possible to accommodate them.

Subsequently the Heathrow Media Centre in an another email response reverted to the Congestion Concerns Theme.

Personally I believe that Mike Brown's stated reason was probably nearest to the truth.

But I will leave final word to someone more erudite than !:
The BAA, the current incumbent of what amounts to an aviation heritage site as well as a major contributor to the UK economy, is also displaying a lack of any sense of history; and a mean-spirited lack of gratitude to the industry on whose past and present motivation its revenues depend.

BAA Heathrow Refuses British Eagle Tribute Flight

Whilst this crass last minute decision by the BAA to refuse to allow this tribute flight to operate, has the Idle Man 'spitting feathers' others are close to apoplexy!

At a time when the BAA needs to win friends and influence people, this decision will lose friends and alienate people, well done chaps!

Background and Summary
As the last leg of a successful European Tour that has taken Douglas DC6A G-APSA to Innsbruck, Berlin Tempelhof (prior to the closure of that historic airpot) and Rotterdam, it was planned to operate into London Heathrow.

This was not just any Rotterdam-Heathrow flight, but to commemorate the 40th anniversary on the 7th November 2008 of the last British Eagle Commercial Flight which was also Rotterdam-Heathrow, with an Aircraft delivered to British Eagle in 1958 (Fifty Years ago).

Now operating into the World busiest International Airport requires more planning than the other Airports on the Tour, but as the Aircraft has visited Heathrow in recent years both on Commercial Charter and two previous commemorative flights (including one for BAA), the team planning this flight understood what needed to be done to enable it to go ahead.

Included in this was satisfying Air Traffic Control that the DC6 could conform to the relevant requirement and this was achieved, plus obtaining the required Airport Slots and again these were granted.

In addition the planning was positively helped by BAA Staff who arranged for Landng Fees to be Waived and by Signature Flight Support the Handling Agents who agreed to waive handling fees.

Yet two days ago the BAA withdrew the Airport Slots because they were concerned that the operation of the DC6 at Heathrow was potentially disruptive to normal operations.

As every effort had been made to ensure that the DC6 operation would be no more potentially disruptive than any other Heathrow Flight, this is balderdash!

The DC6 Flight Team News Report In Full
The following is the full News Article from The DC6 Website an Air Atlantique operation:

HEATHROW REFUSES ENTRY
With great regret we must announce that we are no longer able to visit Heathrow this Friday, 7 November. We realise that this will be a bitter disappointment to many people.

Operation into London Heathrow, in common with many large airports, requires the allocation of a slot for each movement. Slots for our intended operation were allocated to us last week, at which point we confirmed with our supporters that we would be making the journey. Yesterday, however, we were advised by a representative of BAA, the airport operator, that these slots were to be withdrawn because they were concerned that the operation of the DC6 at Heathrow was potentially disruptive to normal operations. In the course of several commercial charters into Heathrow in recent years, and two previous commemorative flights (including one for BAA), our experience has been that the DC6 does not cause any inconvenience. Moreover, we were able to demonstrate to the relevant ATC unit that the normal approach speeds and operating procedures of this Public Transport certified airliner were in line with current standards and would require no special treatment. We have had the great pleasure over recent years to visit each of the other capital airports in Europe. Regrettably, this busy international airport felt unable, at the eleventh hour, to agree to our visit.

Our flight this Friday was intended to commemorate the last commercial flight, exactly forty years ago, of a British Eagle aircraft on exactly the same route from Rotterdam to Heathrow. The captain of that original flight was to join us. We had hoped that this would be an uplifting event in these turbulent times, to remind people that flying can still be a fun and romantic endeavour. Unfortunately it appears that commercial priorities, or perhaps a misunderstanding of the nature of the DC6, has caused BAA to decide otherwise. We are tremendously grateful to our handling agent at Heathrow, Signature Flight Support, who generously agreed to sponsor our ground arrangements, and to members of the BAA team who arranged that our landing fees would be waived.

The aircraft will return directly from Rotterdam to Coventry within the next few days. We will publish the times accordingly. This will conclude public flying for this season as the aircraft enters scheduled maintenance on 23 November.

We look forward to an exciting new season in 2009 and to meeting more of you throughout next year.

Trade Unions and the BNP

Firstly, I will state that I have never been a member of any Political Party and in terms of my politics I am effectively in the centre, wavering slightly to the left, or slightly to the right depending on the issue.

Secondly, I was a member of a Trade Union for over a decade, with the result that I am extremely cynical and suspicious of British Trade Unions, although I still support the need for them.

Now the question is should a member of any extreme Political Party also be a member of a Trade Union?
Having watched in the past, with loathing and deep concern elements of the extreme left attempt to influence and control a mainstream Trade Union, perhaps the obvious answer is NO!

But that rule would disbar someone with strongly held Political beliefs from having a vote on issues that have a direct effect on their Pay and Conditions in a Unionised Company, so membership of a Political Party should not be a bar to membership of a Trade Union, or indeed Guild, or Staff Association.

Then again should the Trade Union Movement align itself with any Political Party, in my opinion NO!
But the reality is that the TUC is aligned with and provides major funding to the Labour Party and that is NOT going to change.

What apparently is being attempted is to allow Unions to disbar membership, or expel an existing member for being a member of a Political Party (Hang ON that is a major infringement of Civil Liberties).

So if I was member of any party then I could be barred from Union Membership?
Apparently so, but this is a targeted attack on the extreme right, in particular the BNP!

Whilst I find the BNP core agenda totally unacceptable, I also find the core agenda of the Extreme Left just as unacceptable, but for different reasons. However neither the British National Party (BNP), nor (for example) is the Socialist Worker Party (SWP) an illegal organisation. So why should membership of either bar membership to a Trade Union?

Well apparently the BNP is a special case because it is deemed Fascist as against the SWP which is merely an Anti-Capitalist Revolutionary Marxist Organisation. So one has Race and Immigration as part of its core agenda and the other wants to turn Britain into a Marxist State (which would certainly result in mass emigration, rather than illegal immigration).

So why has the BNP in particular become an issue inside Trade Unions and therefore because of its political clout with many Labour MPs, a Political Issue in Parliament?
Because the BNP is (unfortunately) doing rather well, especially among the rank and file members of several major unions and also has won council seats in some Labour held Parliamentary Constituencies.

The vehicle for changing the law to allow Unions to bar/expel those who are members of a political party the Union Leadership doesn't like, is the new Employment Bill. This is now back in the Commons after being amended by the Lords.
The rise of the BNP has produced 'fear uncertainty and doubt' in both the Unions and the Labour Party. Instead to tackling the reasons for this move of to an extreme right wing party, they are just trying to smother its ability to gain influence within the Union Movement.

The Unite Union Web Site puts its views as follows:
MPs and unions fight to protect right to expel extremists. Leading UK trade unions and MPs are pressing the Government to show leadership and act to protect unions from attack by extreme right-wing groups.

Fears are growing across the labour movement that unless the Government backs a series of key amendments to the Employment Bill as it enters its key Commons' stages on Tuesday (November 4th) trade unions will become highly vulnerable to infiltration from the BNP and the far right.

According to unions, Labour MPs and anti-fascist campaign group Searchlight, amendments to the Bill made during its Lords' stages must be overturned because they prevent unions from expelling people for membership of a political party, an issue that came to recent prominence when train drivers union Aslef fought for and lost the right to expel a BNP activist from their ranks. Further, the Lords' regressive changes come at a time when the BNP is a growing menace and seeking to extend its bases within Britain's communities.
End of Extract from Unite Web Site.

So the Unions want the right to expel extremists, which sounds reasonable, except this apparently will only be applied to the BNP and far right. Does this mean that the Trade Unions are concerned that so many of their members will become members of the BNP that they will overturn the current leadership at least at local level?
Apparently so!

But what is to stop a Union from applying this to members of other parties, Conservative, Liberal-Democrats, SWP, etc?
Apparently Nothing!

So who will define what is an acceptable Political Party to permit Union Membership?
The Union Leadership, because they know best. Oh really!

Trade Unions should only be concerned with protecting members pay, terms and conditions, plus in skilled trades the applicable standards, not the politics of individual members. But British Unions spend much of their time playing domestic politics rather than actually fulfilling their primary purpose.

Attempting to change the law purely because of Political expediency is almost as unacceptable as the policies of the BNP and SWP and impinges on the Civil Liberties that should be central to our democracy.