Exploring the Daily Mail's defintion of "soaring"

From The Daily Mail, 26 December 2007: Soaring toll of patients hit by drug side-effects
"Soaring toll of patients hit by drug side-effects
The number of patients suffering serious side-effects from NHS drugs is soaring.

Last year, 4,635 people were taken to hospital suffering adverse reactions from medicines they had been prescribed - up from 4,429 in 2004."

Can 206 people out of 4,635, ever be described as soaring?

Crowborough recycle centre

Crowborough household recycling centre centre (aka the dump) has an interesting sign that welcomes customers:

We cannot and will not help with builder's bags!

Physical and verbal abuse of our workers is not tolerated!

It's a friendly place.

Tescowborough

Tesco are rumoured to be buying the Focus DIY store in Crowborough, E Sussex. We already have three supermarkets in the town -- LIDL, Morrisons and Waitrose. Do we need a fourth?

This rumour hit the town a few weeks back, after a news item about supermarkets being given licence to expand ever more. That day, ITV news ran a report on Rye (also in Sussex), and how a local, independent store tried to buy land to expand its service, yet was thwarted when Tesco purchased a small strip of road near the site.

Every little helps (keep the independents from threatening).

helphound.com: Comment about Rye and Tesco

Why we can't (always) trust the media

This is not a rant against newspapers, TV and radio. It's just a note that quite often, you spot an error that needs to be highlighted.

Friday night on Meridian Tonight, the local TV news programme for the south-east, and they preview the Walsall versus Southend football game in the Coca-Cola League One. They claim Southend's only injury worry is the goalkeeper, Daryl Flahavan, so his deputy, Steve Collis may have to step in. Now, they got the injury correct, but "deputy" Collis has actually played the last nine games for the Shrimpers. ("Flavs" played the first six games of this football season.)

I know it's only local TV, which is as maligned as any TV show with Jeremy Kyle in it, but if the local TV news can't get a football team selection story correct, it makes you wonder where else the mistakes might be creeping in?

Sport attendances

The Observer two weeks ago, mentioned a crowd of 26,000 at a Twenty 20 cricket match between Middlesex and Surrey in 2004.

Why aren't crowd numbers at cricket and rugby matches, or athletic events covered in the press? It's only football matches that regularly get an attendance figure. Why?

Football lookalikes

Continuing my occasional series in thinking, 'Oh yeah, doesn't he look like so-and-so'.

Everton's goalkeeper, Stefan Wessels, looks like...



... England's favourite ex-Army moaner, James Blunt

Tips for modern life

A dodgy accountant my Dad knew once told him if you ever want to know what's going on somewhere, ask a taxi driver.

Today I learned the consumer knowledge that workers at recycling centres (aka 'dumps') also have.

I threw out my two-year-old Panasonic vacuum cleaner and a fluorescent-bibbed gentleman asked what was wrong with it. I explained how the motor had packed up and he said he'd seen lots of similar makes chucked away.