Being within the age criteria of gentlemen susceptible to problems associated with enlargement of the prostrate, and considering the opinion that the majority of men will have an enlarged prostate if they live long enough here is yet another article about related treatments.
A new interventional radiology treatment that blocks blood supply to men's enlarged prostate glands shows comparable clinical results to transurethral resection of the prostate (or TURP), considered the gold standard (or most common) treatment. However, this minimally invasive treatment -- prostatic artery embolization -- has none of the risks associated with TURP, such as sexual dysfunction, urinary incontinence, blood loss and retrograde ejaculation, say researchers.
Read the full article in the ScienceDaily: No scalpel: Minimally invasive breakthrough for men’s enlarged prostates improves symptoms
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Price of petrol in Spain reaches a new record
According to the European Union Oil Bulletin the average price of unleaded petrol in Spain reach a new record price reaching €1.33 per litre, an increase of 1.9% over the previous week. The previous record price of €1.324 per litre was seen in Mid-March as a result of the rising cost of fuel of 1.7% in March and 5.8% since the begining of the year.
The price for a litre of diesel fuel has become cheaper by 0.4% during the week at €1.287 per litre, which means it finishes the month with a 1.5% increase.
Europa Press: La gasolina marca un nuevo récord histórico
The price for a litre of diesel fuel has become cheaper by 0.4% during the week at €1.287 per litre, which means it finishes the month with a 1.5% increase.
Europa Press: La gasolina marca un nuevo récord histórico
Louise Clarke, "Please don´t compromise your talent and your reputation".
Continuing on from my previous articles about Louise Clarke in her role as the recently appointed personal press officer for the Partido Popular Mayor of Orihuela, Monica Lorente, I was interested to read the following letter in the CoastRider newspaper this week.
The Editor of the CoastRider found the letter by Sarah Hill of sufficient interest and without offensive comments to publish it. This is the same Sarah Hill who was the author of a comment on the Orihuela Costa Vecinos Colaborando Facebook page that was deleted with the reason given, in the words of the Editor of that page, as "the offensive comment from someone else was immediately deleted and as a result the person who had just joined removed from the site". Could her comment have been that offensive and so different from the tone of the language in her letter above? She has responded to the statement by the OCVC with two comments posted to my article.
It seems to me there is a common theme in these articles in that they relate to the projection and protection of the image to the public of the Partido Popular in the Orihuela Town Council.
Previous articles:
Opposition Parties Shocked by Mayor Lorente's New Press Officer Appointment in Orihuela Costa!
Louise Clarke is disgusted at some claims about her new Press Officer Job
CLR party accuses Orihuela Costa Town Hall press officer of Misuse of Public Administration and Trust
Mayor Monica Lorente's press officer knew what she was doing,
To the EditorIn addition to the link to my articles about Louise Clarke's appointment there is another coincidental link to the article questioning the political status of the Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch.
I have been very concerned about the openly political role that Louise Clarke has been forced to take since January 2011 when she became the newly appointed Press Officer in Orihuela Costa Town Hall.
Before she took up post, the publicity she created around her appointment conveyed how pleased she was to be working for the people of Orihuela Costa in the International office in the Town Hall.
I don’t think the post has turned out to be quite what she expected!
On a fine salary paid for by tax payers money, she has been appointed, I believe, to do nothing more than promote Monica Lorente and the Partido Popular so they convince us that they have been the “best thing since sliced bread” for Orihuela Costa. Louise is clearly working very hard as we are getting more than ample exposure to MS Lorente, every week in every paper, free or otherwise. But of course it is election time in May and a lot hangs on those results!
When Louise announced she was going to work for the PP- sorry- Orihuela Costa Town Hall- all her friends in the opposition parties warned her about being used for political ends. Spain is a highly political society. Town Halls are run on party lines and party loyalties. If you have a job in the Town Hall you work for the Mayor and their political party.
As someone who has known you for a few years, my feeling is Louise, that it is going to get worse the closer we get to the elections. Just think about your reputation here. You are a good Journalist .
Please don´t compromise your talent and your reputation.
Sarah Hill
The Editor of the CoastRider found the letter by Sarah Hill of sufficient interest and without offensive comments to publish it. This is the same Sarah Hill who was the author of a comment on the Orihuela Costa Vecinos Colaborando Facebook page that was deleted with the reason given, in the words of the Editor of that page, as "the offensive comment from someone else was immediately deleted and as a result the person who had just joined removed from the site". Could her comment have been that offensive and so different from the tone of the language in her letter above? She has responded to the statement by the OCVC with two comments posted to my article.
It seems to me there is a common theme in these articles in that they relate to the projection and protection of the image to the public of the Partido Popular in the Orihuela Town Council.
Previous articles:
Opposition Parties Shocked by Mayor Lorente's New Press Officer Appointment in Orihuela Costa!
Louise Clarke is disgusted at some claims about her new Press Officer Job
CLR party accuses Orihuela Costa Town Hall press officer of Misuse of Public Administration and Trust
Mayor Monica Lorente's press officer knew what she was doing,
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Spain and the lingering legacy of Franco
A very interesting article, well worth reading:
Spain and the lingering legacy of Franco | World news | The Guardian
Spain and the lingering legacy of Franco | World news | The Guardian
Prostrate Cancer screening and surgery updates.
In the last few days there have been two articles in ScienceDaily about the value of screening for Prostrate cancer and surgical practices which may interest gentlemen of a certain maturity.
The first Many elderly men are undergoing unnecessary PSA screenings, researchers find refers to a new study on the use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based prostate cancer screening in the United States found that many elderly men may be undergoing unnecessary prostate cancer screenings. Using data from surveys conducted in 2000 and 2005, researchers report that nearly half of men in their seventies underwent PSA screening in the past year -- almost double the screening rate of men in their early fifties, who are more likely to benefit from early prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. Further, men aged 85 and older were screened just as often as men in their early fifties.
The second Robot-assisted prostate surgery is safe, long-term study finds reports that in the first study of its kind, urologists and biostatisticians have found that robot-assisted surgery to remove cancerous prostate glands is safe over the long term, with a major complication rate of less than one percent. The findings follow an earlier Henry Ford study that found nearly 87 percent of patients whose cancerous prostates were removed by robot-assisted surgery had no recurrence of the disease after five years.
The first Many elderly men are undergoing unnecessary PSA screenings, researchers find refers to a new study on the use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based prostate cancer screening in the United States found that many elderly men may be undergoing unnecessary prostate cancer screenings. Using data from surveys conducted in 2000 and 2005, researchers report that nearly half of men in their seventies underwent PSA screening in the past year -- almost double the screening rate of men in their early fifties, who are more likely to benefit from early prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment. Further, men aged 85 and older were screened just as often as men in their early fifties.
The second Robot-assisted prostate surgery is safe, long-term study finds reports that in the first study of its kind, urologists and biostatisticians have found that robot-assisted surgery to remove cancerous prostate glands is safe over the long term, with a major complication rate of less than one percent. The findings follow an earlier Henry Ford study that found nearly 87 percent of patients whose cancerous prostates were removed by robot-assisted surgery had no recurrence of the disease after five years.
Monday, 28 March 2011
The Editor: Prosecutor, Defendant, Jury and Judge.
Those of us who have our own Weblog, Facebook page, and Twitter on the social media networks do so for a variety of reasons; too big a subject to expand upon at this time.
What ever the reasons, there is the belief by the writer that the readers will actually find the contents of the articles interesting, and some of them may wish to add a comment to the posting especially when a point of view has been expressed. If, particularly in the case of a weblog or Facebook page, there isn't the belief then there would be no point in having the 'comment' facility active, available, for the readers to use.
As the author of the blog or page there is a degree of anticipation waiting to be notified of a comment to a post. When the notification arrives there is an element of satisfaction, joy, elation and trepidation.
The apprehension is twofold; will the message of the comment be in favour or in disagreement of your opinion; will the comment be acceptable for publication. In the first instance there isn't anything you can do about it, not everyone will agree with you. In the later case this is where you change from Author to Editor.
As the Editor the role changes in the 'Moderation Court' to Prosecutor, Defendant, Jury and Judge in deciding what comments are allowed to be published. The decision has to be taken.
When acting as Editor on my weblog and Facebook page for the substantial majority of comments there isn't any difficulty, even when opinions are given that are contrary to mine or other comment makers. It's this difference of opinion that helps to make the blog or page interesting to read. Unfortunately not all Editors of sites seem to understand this point and I believe some will use the delete button to protect their opinions if they perceive a threat. I experienced and witnessed this recently.
For me there can be no question that the small number of comments which contain vulgar, obscene, language or acronyms or letter substitution to make a crude expression seem polite are deleted. As will comments which appear to be libellous, vindictive, discriminatory.
It is the very small minority that are left that can cause concern, to delete of not to delete! It could be for example that the comment is getting off the original subject, is becoming too personal towards an individual, or is based on facts that are generally known to be invalid. There are without doubt other grey areas which need a decision. The problem is that ultimately the decision is the Editor's alone. More often than not the question of whether the deletion was the correct action is never answered; but sometimes it is.
On a recent article on this weblog a comment was made that I decided, after some considerable thought, should not be published because of one of these grey areas. Fortunately I was able to communicate my reason to the writer hoping that that person would understand. It was nice to receive the following reply. “You are absolutely right! After I wrote that comment, I ....... wished that I hadn't commented ......! Hope you take this in good spirits, as I understand that I was out of bounds! ................ and thank you for correcting me!
I mention this not to seek praise for my editorial decisions to delete, but to show that to explain the reason behind them, when possible, can turn a potential negative situation into a positive one. I sincerely believe that the author of the axed comment will continue to read my pages and will be comfortable to post other comments in the future.
The Editor, usually the originator, of a social media page has the responsibility of the final decision of what comments appears on that page, but I believe that that authority should not be abused to the detriment of the readers and contributors of comments. Being Prosecutor, Defendant, Jury and Judge in the 'Moderation Court' requires fairness and honesty.
Friday, 25 March 2011
Acupuncture for pain no better than placebo -- and not without harm, study finds
Although acupuncture is commonly used for pain control, doubts about its effectiveness and safety remain.
Researchers in the UK and Korea critically evaluated systematic reviews of acupuncture as a treatment of pain in order to explore this question. The scientists conclude that numerous systematic reviews have generated little truly convincing evidence that acupuncture is effective in reducing pain, and serious adverse effects continue to be reported.
Read more detail in ScienceDaily (2011-03-23)
Researchers in the UK and Korea critically evaluated systematic reviews of acupuncture as a treatment of pain in order to explore this question. The scientists conclude that numerous systematic reviews have generated little truly convincing evidence that acupuncture is effective in reducing pain, and serious adverse effects continue to be reported.
Read more detail in ScienceDaily (2011-03-23)
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Is Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch a Non-Non-Political Group?
There has in the past been some comment in the local English press that the Orihuela Costa Vecinos Colaborando (Neighbourhood Watch) is not a non-political group. This has been vehemently denied by the senior echelon of the group. I have in the past written to the group representative to highlight my personal concerns that group was adopting a political stance, by only including news from the local governing Partido Popular party, in any newsletters or information circulars, to the exclusion of all other political parties. Again it was maintained that the group was and would continue to adopt a non-political stance.
However there have been two incidents in the last 2 weeks that indicate to me that the non-political stance might not be a reality.
The first happened on the 11th March as a result of a post I put on my Facebook page which linked to the article on my weblog 'CLR party accuses Orihuela Costa Town Hall press officer of Misuse of Public Administration and Trust' on the 10th March. The following comment was added to the post by the Orihuela Costa Vc: http://www.theleader.info/article/27651/spain/costa-blanca/orihuela-costa-town-hall-focus-groups-correction/ . I replied to the comment: 'Graham, I thought Vecinos Colaborando maintains it is a non-political organisation. Your posting above could be considered as deviating from that position!'. The response from the Orihuela Costa Vc was: 'Point taken but I thought that it would be best to let people have the correction'.
The second incident happened on Saturday 19th March. On that day a posting entitled 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony' (a link cannot be put in because the item has been deleted) appeared on the Orihuela Costa Vc Facebook page. It was a link to an item that contained nothing more than a collection of 33 photographs, taken at the inauguration of the building of a new shopping centre in Orihuela Costa, of which 24 included Monica Lorente the Partido Popular Mayor of Orihuela Municipality.
On seeing this I posted the following comments to the item as did one other person 'Gill Reynolds.
Elliot Sampford: Your fascination in photographs of Monica Lorente, our PP Mayor, is not surprising, given your support for the PP and your comment on their Populares Orihuela Costa (English) Facebook page. I believe both that and the Orihuela Costa Prensa Facebook page are managed by the same person. I have to wonder why the Orihuela Costa VC facebook page only seems to give information about PP originated events! Where is the information about events initiated by any of the Opposition parties?
Elliot Sampford: To clarify to other readers my comment above is addressed to Graham as coordinator and manager of this page.
Elliot Sampford: To Gill Reynolds: I have received emails from Facebook to say that you have replied to my comments but cannot see them on either my home page or the Orihuela Costa VC page.
Elliot Sampford: Gill R. In reply to your first comment: "Elliot anyone can post, the reason why there have been a lot of photos recently is because we have attended a lot of events, not all the photos are put on by John but as Mayor he should let people know what he is doing to promote Entre Naranjos. can't be held responsible for what other people put on including the Neighbourhood watch."
I'm not sure that the Orihuela Costa VC page should be used to promote the work of an unelected but PP appointed Mayor!
In reply to your second comment: "my understanding is that Orihuela Prensa is run by Louise and this site by the Neighbourhood Watch, the other facebook sites are by Stefan (German) and John and Louise (English)"
I was aware of Louise Clarke's, Monica Lorente's press officer, involvement in the two pages I mentioned but not of John R. thanks for the information.
Gill Reynolds: Elliot as you say your comments were aimed at Graham and not us then I retracted my statements as I do not wish to get in to any arguments, you have made your point
Gill Reynolds: and you have added your own comments to my post to make it look as though I have said it
Elliot Sampford: Gill: I have not made any attempt to suggest my own comments were from you. Your comments are closed by "speech marks" and my comments start on a new line. I don't think there can be any confusion as to who said what!
Unfortunately I cannot give a link to the posting on the Orihuela Costa Vc page to verify the above as the post in entirety, comments and all, was deleted from Facebook shortly after I made the comments. One can only guess at the reason. It is good that I had the foresight to copy the above comments before extermination.
I have of course since then posted a comment on another article (Orihuela Costa Vc http://goo.gl/PYaBU ), the first posting I have seen that mentions something relating to a party other than the PP and only after my first comment above ("I have to wonder why the Orihuela Costa VC facebook page only seems to give information about PP originated events! Where is the information about events initiated by any of the Opposition parties?"), on their page asking for clarification for the reason for the deletion:
Elliot Sampford:“To the Coordinator/Editor:......where has yesterday's (Sat 19th) posting entitled 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony', including mine and Gill Reynolds' comments gone?
Has it been deleted because I was suggesting that the VC page was being used to promote Monica Lorente, PP Mayor of Orihuela?
Has it been deleted because my comments were considered too political when I said “I'm not sure that the Orihuela Costa VC page should be used to promote the work of an unelected but PP appointed Mayor!” when Gill Reynolds referred to the work of her husband as the PP Mayor of Entre Naranjos?
Has it been deleted because I said “Your fascination in photographs of Monica Lorente, our PP Mayor, is not surprising, given your support for the PP and your comment on their Orihuela Costa English Facebook page”?
Has it been deleted because Monica Lorente and her two paid assessors in the Orihuela Costa Ayuntamiento, Louise Clarke and Stefan Pokroppa, and her personally appointed Entre Naranjas Mayor, John Reynolds, are all registered as friends (Hi all) of this Facebook page and might be offended by any of my comments?”
The reply comment was:
Orihuela Costa Vc: criticism accepted but offensive remarks need to be removed, nothing political from me just good news of things happening in our area. The more friends the better from all alks of life , nice to see many Spanish, Norwegian and Germany friends.
Unable to make a comment reply because the facility had been stopped I sent a direct message to the Editor.
However the alleged offensive comment was not on the 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony' article, that was deleted, but on the article I posted my questions onto. I know because I saw it ("the offensive comment") when it was posted, before it was deleted. It was by a well known supporter of the PSOE party, the major opposition party to the governing Partido Popular party in the Orihuela Town Council. In my opinion it did not contain any language that I consider offensive but what it did do was to comment adversely about the PP. Was that what made it an offensive comment?
So my comments were not offensive. But still my questions as to why the 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony' posting was deleted after comments were added to it remain unanswered.
Another relevant factor, which I discovered, is that it seems that on the Facebook social network the Orihuela Costa Vc only has 'friendships' or 'likes' links to pages associated with the governing Partido Popular Mayor, Monica Lorente, and her party. There does not appear to be any social networking links with any of the Opposition parties, or their spokespersons, on the Council such as the PSOE, Los Verdes and CLR, or the local active but unelected CLARO party. Is the group only interested in hearing about and telling its Facebook friends about what the PP is doing?
This leaves me wondering.
Is the Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch a Non-Non-Political Group?
Is the Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch being used, or acting, surreptitiously as a publicist for the Partido Popular party?
Notes:
1. For those readers interested and registered on Facebook after logging in the photographs can be seen here 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony' . It is on the originating source, the Facebook page of Orihuela Costa Prensa which is edited by Louise Clarke, Monica Lorente's personal press officer.
2. Graham whom I addressed my reply to is a senior co-ordinator of Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch and editor of the official Facebook pages of the group. He also left a comment on the weblog article mentioned above.
3. As I understand it Gill Reynolds is the wife of John Reynolds, a supporter of the PP, who was arbitrarily appointed as Mayor of The Entre Naranjas district within the Orihuela Municipality by Mayor Monica Lorente.
However there have been two incidents in the last 2 weeks that indicate to me that the non-political stance might not be a reality.
The first happened on the 11th March as a result of a post I put on my Facebook page which linked to the article on my weblog 'CLR party accuses Orihuela Costa Town Hall press officer of Misuse of Public Administration and Trust' on the 10th March. The following comment was added to the post by the Orihuela Costa Vc: http://www.theleader.info/article/27651/spain/costa-blanca/orihuela-costa-town-hall-focus-groups-correction/ . I replied to the comment: 'Graham, I thought Vecinos Colaborando maintains it is a non-political organisation. Your posting above could be considered as deviating from that position!'. The response from the Orihuela Costa Vc was: 'Point taken but I thought that it would be best to let people have the correction'.
The second incident happened on Saturday 19th March. On that day a posting entitled 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony' (a link cannot be put in because the item has been deleted) appeared on the Orihuela Costa Vc Facebook page. It was a link to an item that contained nothing more than a collection of 33 photographs, taken at the inauguration of the building of a new shopping centre in Orihuela Costa, of which 24 included Monica Lorente the Partido Popular Mayor of Orihuela Municipality.
On seeing this I posted the following comments to the item as did one other person 'Gill Reynolds.
Elliot Sampford: Your fascination in photographs of Monica Lorente, our PP Mayor, is not surprising, given your support for the PP and your comment on their Populares Orihuela Costa (English) Facebook page. I believe both that and the Orihuela Costa Prensa Facebook page are managed by the same person. I have to wonder why the Orihuela Costa VC facebook page only seems to give information about PP originated events! Where is the information about events initiated by any of the Opposition parties?
Elliot Sampford: To clarify to other readers my comment above is addressed to Graham as coordinator and manager of this page.
Elliot Sampford: To Gill Reynolds: I have received emails from Facebook to say that you have replied to my comments but cannot see them on either my home page or the Orihuela Costa VC page.
Elliot Sampford: Gill R. In reply to your first comment: "Elliot anyone can post, the reason why there have been a lot of photos recently is because we have attended a lot of events, not all the photos are put on by John but as Mayor he should let people know what he is doing to promote Entre Naranjos. can't be held responsible for what other people put on including the Neighbourhood watch."
I'm not sure that the Orihuela Costa VC page should be used to promote the work of an unelected but PP appointed Mayor!
In reply to your second comment: "my understanding is that Orihuela Prensa is run by Louise and this site by the Neighbourhood Watch, the other facebook sites are by Stefan (German) and John and Louise (English)"
I was aware of Louise Clarke's, Monica Lorente's press officer, involvement in the two pages I mentioned but not of John R. thanks for the information.
Gill Reynolds: Elliot as you say your comments were aimed at Graham and not us then I retracted my statements as I do not wish to get in to any arguments, you have made your point
Gill Reynolds: and you have added your own comments to my post to make it look as though I have said it
Elliot Sampford: Gill: I have not made any attempt to suggest my own comments were from you. Your comments are closed by "speech marks" and my comments start on a new line. I don't think there can be any confusion as to who said what!
Unfortunately I cannot give a link to the posting on the Orihuela Costa Vc page to verify the above as the post in entirety, comments and all, was deleted from Facebook shortly after I made the comments. One can only guess at the reason. It is good that I had the foresight to copy the above comments before extermination.
I have of course since then posted a comment on another article (Orihuela Costa Vc http://goo.gl/PYaBU ), the first posting I have seen that mentions something relating to a party other than the PP and only after my first comment above ("I have to wonder why the Orihuela Costa VC facebook page only seems to give information about PP originated events! Where is the information about events initiated by any of the Opposition parties?"), on their page asking for clarification for the reason for the deletion:
Elliot Sampford:“To the Coordinator/Editor:......where has yesterday's (Sat 19th) posting entitled 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony', including mine and Gill Reynolds' comments gone?
Has it been deleted because I was suggesting that the VC page was being used to promote Monica Lorente, PP Mayor of Orihuela?
Has it been deleted because my comments were considered too political when I said “I'm not sure that the Orihuela Costa VC page should be used to promote the work of an unelected but PP appointed Mayor!” when Gill Reynolds referred to the work of her husband as the PP Mayor of Entre Naranjos?
Has it been deleted because I said “Your fascination in photographs of Monica Lorente, our PP Mayor, is not surprising, given your support for the PP and your comment on their Orihuela Costa English Facebook page”?
Has it been deleted because Monica Lorente and her two paid assessors in the Orihuela Costa Ayuntamiento, Louise Clarke and Stefan Pokroppa, and her personally appointed Entre Naranjas Mayor, John Reynolds, are all registered as friends (Hi all) of this Facebook page and might be offended by any of my comments?”
The reply comment was:
Orihuela Costa Vc: criticism accepted but offensive remarks need to be removed, nothing political from me just good news of things happening in our area. The more friends the better from all alks of life , nice to see many Spanish, Norwegian and Germany friends.
Unable to make a comment reply because the facility had been stopped I sent a direct message to the Editor.
"I cannot post this on the article concerned as the comments section seems to have been closed. You posted the following in your reply to my questions about the deleted posting "criticism accepted but offensive remarks need to be removed" implying that the offensive remarks were made by me. I have checked my copy of my remarks and can see nothing that can be construed as offensive, so would you please enlighten me as what remarks you consider offensive. As Editor you have the right to delete items from OC Vc page for valid reasons!
I received the reply: "Not by you.. the offensive comment from someone else was immediately deleted and as a result the person who had just joined removed from the site. I therefore decided for time being to remove ability to comment as its impossible to police all the while. The community site is no problem though as others cannot post their own personal views". That's fine because the reply was also posted on the OC Vc page.
However the alleged offensive comment was not on the 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony' article, that was deleted, but on the article I posted my questions onto. I know because I saw it ("the offensive comment") when it was posted, before it was deleted. It was by a well known supporter of the PSOE party, the major opposition party to the governing Partido Popular party in the Orihuela Town Council. In my opinion it did not contain any language that I consider offensive but what it did do was to comment adversely about the PP. Was that what made it an offensive comment?
So my comments were not offensive. But still my questions as to why the 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony' posting was deleted after comments were added to it remain unanswered.
Another relevant factor, which I discovered, is that it seems that on the Facebook social network the Orihuela Costa Vc only has 'friendships' or 'likes' links to pages associated with the governing Partido Popular Mayor, Monica Lorente, and her party. There does not appear to be any social networking links with any of the Opposition parties, or their spokespersons, on the Council such as the PSOE, Los Verdes and CLR, or the local active but unelected CLARO party. Is the group only interested in hearing about and telling its Facebook friends about what the PP is doing?
This leaves me wondering.
Is the Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch a Non-Non-Political Group?
Is the Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch being used, or acting, surreptitiously as a publicist for the Partido Popular party?
Notes:
1. For those readers interested and registered on Facebook after logging in the photographs can be seen here 'Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony' . It is on the originating source, the Facebook page of Orihuela Costa Prensa which is edited by Louise Clarke, Monica Lorente's personal press officer.
2. Graham whom I addressed my reply to is a senior co-ordinator of Orihuela Costa Neighbourhood Watch and editor of the official Facebook pages of the group. He also left a comment on the weblog article mentioned above.
3. As I understand it Gill Reynolds is the wife of John Reynolds, a supporter of the PP, who was arbitrarily appointed as Mayor of The Entre Naranjas district within the Orihuela Municipality by Mayor Monica Lorente.
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Nigel Farage asks Van Rompuy to apologise over Gaddafi meeting.
Nigel Farage MEP, UKIP, Co-President of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group in the European Parliament at the Extraordinary meeting of the Conference of Presidents with EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy asks that the EU resists the calls for military action in Lybia on the grounds that there is no legitimacy or consent for the European Union to take such action.
He then highlights the recent meeting of the EU Council President with Colonel Gaddafi, and concludes by asking Mr Van Rompuy "Do you accept that it was an error of judgement to be photographed as recently as December with Colonel Gaddafi and would you please, if you do, apologise for it".
Irrespective of whether you agree with his point of view; there is one thing that you can expect from any speech by Nigel Farage, that he says it as he sees it.
He then highlights the recent meeting of the EU Council President with Colonel Gaddafi, and concludes by asking Mr Van Rompuy "Do you accept that it was an error of judgement to be photographed as recently as December with Colonel Gaddafi and would you please, if you do, apologise for it".
Irrespective of whether you agree with his point of view; there is one thing that you can expect from any speech by Nigel Farage, that he says it as he sees it.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Mayor Monica Lorente's press officer knew what she was doing,
Following on from my posting entitled CLR party accuses Orihuela Costa Town Hall press officer of Misuse of Public Administration and Trust I was interested in reading the article in today's Coastrider publication entitled 'Consternation over Conservatives Abroad' which relates to press releases issued by both the CLARO & CLR political parties about the possible role of Louise Clarke, the Partido Popular Mayor's, Monica Lorente, press officer, in promoting the setting up of a branch of 'Conservatives Abroad' in Orihuela Costa for UK Expat supporters.
Why does this matter? It matters because amongst UK Expats the Partido Popular party is seen as the Conservative party equivalent in Spain and the PP will be looking to obtain the votes of right wing voters in the May local elections. Is it a coincidence that the PP press officer in Orihuela Costa is highlighting the 'Conservatives Abroad' group?
What I found of particular interest in the Coastrider article were comments attributed to the Chairman of the group Mrs Margaret Hales MBE;
I'm sorry but I don't believe you! The timing of the announcement of the setting up of a section of the 'Conservatives Abroad' in the run up to the May 2011 local elections is a pure coincidence is it?
Why am I so cynical? My memory goes back to last December (2010) when the PP held a Christmas party in Orihuela to thank its loyal Orihuela municipal (including Orihuela Costa) voters for their support of the PP led Town Council during the current term of office.
The event was reported in the Round Town News at the time with an article entitled 'Coastal Residents Enjoy PP 'Party' written by none other than Louise Clarke!
In the article today in the Coastrider, written by Mireille Toddington is the statement;
Now that's interesting because in Louise Clarke's article about the PP Christmas party for its supporters, she reported;
In today's Coastrider article Mrs Hales is reported as stating;
There is no doubt in my mind that Mayor Monica Lorente's press officer, Louise Clarke, knew what she was doing, with the timing of the 'Conservatives Abroad' announcement, in this period of run up to the local elections.
Why does this matter? It matters because amongst UK Expats the Partido Popular party is seen as the Conservative party equivalent in Spain and the PP will be looking to obtain the votes of right wing voters in the May local elections. Is it a coincidence that the PP press officer in Orihuela Costa is highlighting the 'Conservatives Abroad' group?
What I found of particular interest in the Coastrider article were comments attributed to the Chairman of the group Mrs Margaret Hales MBE;
'Conservatives Abroad is a legitimate part of the British Conservative Party and it has been working for some time to prepare for setting up a branch in the Orihuela/Torrevieja area. This is planned to take place after the local elections in Spain, specifically so that we are not seen to be trying to influence the outcome of the election'.
I'm sorry but I don't believe you! The timing of the announcement of the setting up of a section of the 'Conservatives Abroad' in the run up to the May 2011 local elections is a pure coincidence is it?
Why am I so cynical? My memory goes back to last December (2010) when the PP held a Christmas party in Orihuela to thank its loyal Orihuela municipal (including Orihuela Costa) voters for their support of the PP led Town Council during the current term of office.
The event was reported in the Round Town News at the time with an article entitled 'Coastal Residents Enjoy PP 'Party' written by none other than Louise Clarke!
In the article today in the Coastrider, written by Mireille Toddington is the statement;
“Officially the British Conservative Party states that it does not back any political party in Spain and anyone claiming that the Conservative Party is supporting the Popular Party would be acting without the authorisation of the party.”
Now that's interesting because in Louise Clarke's article about the PP Christmas party for its supporters, she reported;
“Amongst the attendees were representatives from the Conservatives Abroad Association, which is based in the north of the Province. Margaret and Gerald Hales and Benitachell Councillor Stephen Kidgell had been invited to attend the ‘party’ along with Deputy Speaker of the House of Parliament and Conservative MP for the Ribble Valley, Nigel Evans. However, due to the air traffic controllers’ strike, he was unable to fly over to Spain and had to cancel his arrangements.”At that time being sceptical I wrote to Nigel Evans MP; 'Dear Mr Evans, I understand that you were due to attend the fiesta given by the the Partido Popular party Mayor, Monica Lorente, of Orihuela, Alicante Spain. I was wondering, ..... if you could confirm it was your intention to attend'. To my pleasant surprise I received a reply from a Senior Parliamentary Researcher, Office of Nigel Evans MP, Deputy Speaker, Member of Parliament for the Ribble Valley which included the following;
“Mr Evans was indeed due to be in Spain that weekend but was unfortunately unable to fly because of the Spanish strikes..... I know that he was very disappointed not to able to make it. I have attached a link to a news article that explains the whole situation. http://www.roundtownnews.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26510&Itemid=31The article,once again, written by none other than Louise Clarke is entitled 'Senior British MP stranded by air controllers' strike' and in it she wrote;
“On Sunday he (referring to Nigel Evans MP) was to meet representatives of the Alicante government, including Sra. Maria Asunción Prieto, Diputada for European Residents, Monica Lorente, Mayor of Orihuela and expats from Orihuela Costa”referring again to the attendance at the PP Christmas party for supporters, by Nigel Evans MP, Conservative, and Margaret and Gerald Hales of 'Conservatives Abroad'.
In today's Coastrider article Mrs Hales is reported as stating;
“CLARO’s statement appears to be electioneering. I can assure you that anyone seeking to join the new branch of Conservatives Abroad, when it is established, will be joining a reputable, official and active part of the Conservative Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”Of course CLARO's statement is electioneering and so is the 'Conservatives Abroad' groups announcement, via the PP Mayor's, Monica Lorente, personally appointed press officer, Louise Clarke. She (L.C.) is fully aware of the link and association of political beliefs built up in the past, and currently, between the UK Conservative party and the Partido Popular; she wrote the articles I have made reference to!
There is no doubt in my mind that Mayor Monica Lorente's press officer, Louise Clarke, knew what she was doing, with the timing of the 'Conservatives Abroad' announcement, in this period of run up to the local elections.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
The 'Cheap Flight' rip off!
Once again I received the regular weekly email from one of the well known budget airlines offfering me supposedly 'cheap flights' for less than £10. Today I was discussing these with friends who had flown from the UK to Spain, this week, on a special offer reduced price which ended up at £138 per person after all costs.
Then by coincidence today this YouTube video was brought to my attention. It is brilliantly funny!
Then by coincidence today this YouTube video was brought to my attention. It is brilliantly funny!
Hard work and stress could help towards longer life!
On completion of a 20 year study by a team of researchers, into which factors may predict the health and length of life of people, led by Howard S. Friedman, distinguished professor of psychology and Leslie R. Martin , a 1996 UCR alumna (Ph.D.) they have published their findings in a report entitled "The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study". Many of the conclusions in the report question conventional thoughts on longevity factors.
It would seem that the commonly given advice of not to work too hard and not to get too stressed over day to day life and it's associated problems doesn't work as advice for good health and a longer life.
Whilst we all want to feel loved and cared for, which gives a better sense of well-being, it doesn't it seem to help us live longer.
Leslie Martin, who is now a psychology professor said in the report "We came to a new understanding about happiness and health. One of the findings that really astounds people, including us, is that the Longevity Project participants who were the most cheerful and had the best sense of humor as kids lived shorter lives, on average, than those who were less cheerful and joking. It was the most prudent and persistent individuals who stayed healthiest and lived the longest."
In the past it has been commonly commented on that a lot of people when they retired after a life of work didn't seem to live long enough to enjoy their retirement. The study found that continually productive men and women lived much longer than their more laid-back comrades.
Read more details in ScienceDaily: Keys to long life? Not what you might expect.
It would seem that the commonly given advice of not to work too hard and not to get too stressed over day to day life and it's associated problems doesn't work as advice for good health and a longer life.
Whilst we all want to feel loved and cared for, which gives a better sense of well-being, it doesn't it seem to help us live longer.
Leslie Martin, who is now a psychology professor said in the report "We came to a new understanding about happiness and health. One of the findings that really astounds people, including us, is that the Longevity Project participants who were the most cheerful and had the best sense of humor as kids lived shorter lives, on average, than those who were less cheerful and joking. It was the most prudent and persistent individuals who stayed healthiest and lived the longest."
In the past it has been commonly commented on that a lot of people when they retired after a life of work didn't seem to live long enough to enjoy their retirement. The study found that continually productive men and women lived much longer than their more laid-back comrades.
Read more details in ScienceDaily: Keys to long life? Not what you might expect.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
CLR party accuses Orihuela Costa Town Hall press officer of Misuse of Public Administration and Trust
The Spokesman and Town Councillor of the Centro Liberal Renovador party, Pedro Mancebo has this week in a press release demanded an immediate halt to the work of the new press officer in the Orihuela Costa Town Hall, Louise Clarke, who was hired in January by the Mayoress Monica Lorente.
He makes the point that according to information published in the local English language newspapers in Orihuela Costa recently, the section of the British Conservative Party abroad (Conservatives Abroad) has obtained permission from its headquarters in the UK to establish a branch in Orihuela Costa. it was reported that anyone wishing to join this party or wanting to know more about this initiative should contact the new Partido Popular press officer Louise Clarke via her official town hall e-mail address.
Pedro Mancebo commented that the CLR find it unacceptable that a consultant who is paid by the citizens of Orihuela turns into a promoter and a channel for private political initiatives like this and converts our Town Hall into a recruitment office to affiliate potential members to any political party. At the same time using public resources for this purpose with the consent of the Mayoress, Monica Lorente, and Councillor for the coast, Jose Antonio Aniorte.
According to the CLR spokesman Pedro Mancebo in his press release;
In addition to trying to attract members of the public to the meetings an attempt was made to attract local businesses on the coast to these meetings under the motto "how can the local government support these businesses during the crisis".
As a business owner in Orihuela Costa, Pedro Mancebo stated that he asked to be included in the discussion groups, but was informed by Louise Clarke that he could not take part as the discussion group for businesses was full. He made the point that he believed Ms. Clarke unfortunately, contradicted herself by admitting in an e-mail that both the discussion groups would be for residents as not enough businesses had applied to attend the business discussion group. In reality, as manifested from a further email, the reason not to allow Pedro Mancebo to take part in the group was simply because from a higher authority she was told “not to allow him to attend”.
He went on to say
Pedro Mancebo made a further observation that to add insult to injury we were able to read in the newspaper that the Councillor for the coast, Jose Antonio Aniorte, had actually taken part in the discussion group held on the Friday,whereas from actually being present himself, although he “was not allowed to attend”, Pedro Mancebo can definitely confirm that Jose Antonio Aniorte did not attend the meeting. He said that in his opinion that is because Clr. Aniorte is not interested in residents of Orihuela Costa and does not speak their language.
He makes the point that according to information published in the local English language newspapers in Orihuela Costa recently, the section of the British Conservative Party abroad (Conservatives Abroad) has obtained permission from its headquarters in the UK to establish a branch in Orihuela Costa. it was reported that anyone wishing to join this party or wanting to know more about this initiative should contact the new Partido Popular press officer Louise Clarke via her official town hall e-mail address.
Pedro Mancebo commented that the CLR find it unacceptable that a consultant who is paid by the citizens of Orihuela turns into a promoter and a channel for private political initiatives like this and converts our Town Hall into a recruitment office to affiliate potential members to any political party. At the same time using public resources for this purpose with the consent of the Mayoress, Monica Lorente, and Councillor for the coast, Jose Antonio Aniorte.
According to the CLR spokesman Pedro Mancebo in his press release;
the consultant hired in January, Louise Clarke, has gone even further, because as well as the press release sent to the media on the coast, a further invitation was announced "on behalf of the Town Hall of Orihuela" for volunteers to take part in two discussion groups in groups of ten people. The idea of these groups was for "the purpose of helping to shape the future of the coast”. The two discussion groups took place in Orihuela Costa on Wednesday March 2nd and Friday March 4th from 11:00 until 13:00. I would say that these groups were purely intended to help shape the dark future and perspectives for the PP party here in Orihuela Costa commented Pedro.
Being only two months in office, Louise Clarke, is already knowingly (or unknowingly) misusing her position. Invitations cannot be announced from the Town Hall to attend meetings and discussion groups and all the feedback and response from these meetings goes directly to the PP. This type of behaviour reminds us of the times when Spain was ruled by a dictator. Surely a person who is a British passport holder coming from a democratic country like Ms. Clarke should know better? A lot of Louise´s supporters were very shocked regarding her career move in early January and with this type of behaviour she loses the last piece of credibility she had.
The reality is that, despite having been announced as a municipal initiative of the Town Hall of Orihuela Costa, it was a biased and partisan initiative of the PP party of Miss Lorente.
In addition to trying to attract members of the public to the meetings an attempt was made to attract local businesses on the coast to these meetings under the motto "how can the local government support these businesses during the crisis".
As a business owner in Orihuela Costa, Pedro Mancebo stated that he asked to be included in the discussion groups, but was informed by Louise Clarke that he could not take part as the discussion group for businesses was full. He made the point that he believed Ms. Clarke unfortunately, contradicted herself by admitting in an e-mail that both the discussion groups would be for residents as not enough businesses had applied to attend the business discussion group. In reality, as manifested from a further email, the reason not to allow Pedro Mancebo to take part in the group was simply because from a higher authority she was told “not to allow him to attend”.
He went on to say
As we see, they proceed in their usual manner in this false democratic team, totally at odds with the transparency and truth.
Pedro Mancebo made a further observation that to add insult to injury we were able to read in the newspaper that the Councillor for the coast, Jose Antonio Aniorte, had actually taken part in the discussion group held on the Friday,whereas from actually being present himself, although he “was not allowed to attend”, Pedro Mancebo can definitely confirm that Jose Antonio Aniorte did not attend the meeting. He said that in his opinion that is because Clr. Aniorte is not interested in residents of Orihuela Costa and does not speak their language.
Friday, 4 March 2011
Relative gender position of Women and Men in Spain seen through EU figires.
A 'News Release' published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on the occasion of the International Women’s Day on 8 March 2011 gives an indication of the breakdown about the make-up of the 200 million private households in the EU27. It throws some light on the questions of; what share of the households consist of single women with or without children; what proportion are couples, and how does the number of children affect the employment rate of both mothers and fathers; how do women perceive their health status different from men.
There were just over 200 million private households in the EU27 in 2009, of which 25% consisted of couples without children, 22% of couples with children2, 17% of single women without children, 13% of single men without children, 4% of single women with children, 0.5% of single men with children and 19.4% of other types of households.
The figures for Spain suggest that 21.5% of households are made up of couples without children, whilst those with children account for 25.9%. What may seem surprissing is that single women without children account for 10.5% of households, more than single men without children which comes in 2.4% less at 8.1%. When it comes to single parents, women account for 2.3% whilst for men the figure is 0.5%.
On the question of how employment is affected by the number of children in a household, the results show that the employment rate of women decreases in relation to the increase in the number of children, whilst for men the trend is opposite. The employment rates for women and men vary differently according to whether they have children or not. The employment rate for women aged 25 to 54 decreases as the number of children increases, while for men in this age group the pattern is almost the opposite.
In Spain in 2009, the employment rate for women aged 25 to 54 without children was 68.4%, while the rate for those women with one child was 63.2%, compared with 60.3% for those with two children and 49.0% for those with three children or more. These percentages range from 8.9% to 5.7% below the averages for the European Union 27 countries as a whole. For men in this age group the respective numbers are, without children 72.5%, with one child 80.2%, with two children 84.7% and 75.5% for those with three children or more.
Another question covered by the news release is the difference between how women and men perceive their state of health. In Spain in 2008, 69.0% of women and 76.9% of men aged 15 and over declared they had very good or good general health, both groups being higher than the EU average. For the other catagories of state of health, 21.4% of women and 17.1% of men said they had fair general health, while 9.6% of women and 6% of men stated they had bad or very bad health. In all EU member countries men declared a better general state of health than women.
For more detailed analysis of the European Union 27 countries as a whole, or for individual menber states, the Eurostat News Release can be read in full at: 1-04032011-AP-EN.PDF application/pdf Object
There were just over 200 million private households in the EU27 in 2009, of which 25% consisted of couples without children, 22% of couples with children2, 17% of single women without children, 13% of single men without children, 4% of single women with children, 0.5% of single men with children and 19.4% of other types of households.
The figures for Spain suggest that 21.5% of households are made up of couples without children, whilst those with children account for 25.9%. What may seem surprissing is that single women without children account for 10.5% of households, more than single men without children which comes in 2.4% less at 8.1%. When it comes to single parents, women account for 2.3% whilst for men the figure is 0.5%.
On the question of how employment is affected by the number of children in a household, the results show that the employment rate of women decreases in relation to the increase in the number of children, whilst for men the trend is opposite. The employment rates for women and men vary differently according to whether they have children or not. The employment rate for women aged 25 to 54 decreases as the number of children increases, while for men in this age group the pattern is almost the opposite.
In Spain in 2009, the employment rate for women aged 25 to 54 without children was 68.4%, while the rate for those women with one child was 63.2%, compared with 60.3% for those with two children and 49.0% for those with three children or more. These percentages range from 8.9% to 5.7% below the averages for the European Union 27 countries as a whole. For men in this age group the respective numbers are, without children 72.5%, with one child 80.2%, with two children 84.7% and 75.5% for those with three children or more.
Another question covered by the news release is the difference between how women and men perceive their state of health. In Spain in 2008, 69.0% of women and 76.9% of men aged 15 and over declared they had very good or good general health, both groups being higher than the EU average. For the other catagories of state of health, 21.4% of women and 17.1% of men said they had fair general health, while 9.6% of women and 6% of men stated they had bad or very bad health. In all EU member countries men declared a better general state of health than women.
For more detailed analysis of the European Union 27 countries as a whole, or for individual menber states, the Eurostat News Release can be read in full at: 1-04032011-AP-EN.PDF application/pdf Object
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