In my personal opinion, this is simply, purely, gratuitously nasty:


Post Office Horizon scandal: More subpostmasters cleared
wrote:

The Court of Appeal has cleared 12 more former subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of offences during the Post Office Horizon scandal.

It brings the total of judgements overturned to 57, but hundreds more are hoping for similar decisions.

Between 1999 and 2015, they were sacked or prosecuted after money appeared to vanish from accounts at their branches.

The problems were caused by the Horizon computer system in Post Office branches which turned out to be flawed.

Some subpostmasters were imprisoned after being convicted of stealing money.

In April, 39 people had verdicts against them overturned, following on from the overturning of six other convictions in December.

More people have been affected by this than in any other miscarriage of justice in the UK.

...

Horizon-based evidence was used by the Post Office to successfully prosecute 736 people.

...

subpostmasters' lives were "irreparably ruined", with some losing marriages, jobs and homes after they were prosecuted by the Post Office.

...

Although the 12 who have had their names cleared were unopposed, another 15 people's cases are being opposed by the Post Office. A judge will now decide whether the Court will grant permission to appeal against those convictions, which may not happen until the Autumn.

Although the Post Office has said they urge "anybody who believes that they may have a relevant case to come forward", it's clearly not going to be the straightforward process that many had hoped for. After years of fighting the Post Office at every turn to clear their names the battles are not over yet...

INCREDIBLE life ruining bullying abuse, and yet certain people in the Post Office are going to continue the abuse to a very bitter end!!!


We really do need to make corporate directors, bosses, and employees personally responsible for their part in such gratuitous abuse.

This case really does need to go a long way further...


All for deadly greedy profit with no cares and no comeback?

All in out only one greedy world that we make,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Better late than never, I suppose

Meanwhile, elsewhere: Fined £2.6m

You gotta love "buzzwords"
Those that use them must be totally dumb to think that everyone is dumber than them.
New term for price gouging: Price Optimisation
I bet they're rubbing their hands with glee in anticipation for when Covid is brought under control.

Choices...
...which thread?
After reading the report, pretty obvious which one.

However, Ken Munro says the Wallbox charger uses hardware - a Raspberry Pi module - that isn't secure enough.
"There's really nothing you can do to make it completely secure, so unless Wallbox have found a way of fixing that - which would be beyond me - I'd suggest perhaps supergluing the box cover in, so hackers can't take the top off."

Government approved

Ensuring cyber-security is part of the government's conditions for chargers to be sold in the UK, which allows buyers to receive government subsidies when making a purchase.

LMAO.

Just imagine if some hacked your charging system as to stop the final 20% tickle down charge mode from happening and your car exploded underneath you while you were asleep. :-O

...or switched you to a more expensive energy provider.

Profits? Incompetence? Or lack of 'oversight'?...

Why Champlain collapsed:

Engineering Failures Found in the Champlain Towers South Drawings - Surfside Collapse


To my eye, the design compromises look to have caused an inevitably early failure and death.


All in our greedy overly rushed greedy deadly world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Ah the dreaded one last change syndrome bights yet again. All too often a late change has had unintentional consequences, thankfully not always fatal.

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Greed at work.
Big boys fighting

I'm not sure if this is the big boys having a squabble or one of the big boys throwing its weight around. For the last couple of months Amazon have been trying to get everyone to sign up to their "Prime" (dis)service by various somewhat underhanded techniques, and I guess they are realising that many people aren't falling for their tricks. For those that use a Visa credit card on Amazon there is a very simple way to jerk Amazon out of their complacency and bullying - don't shop there (and probably get the same thing for less......)

---

Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

For the last couple of months Amazon have been trying to get everyone to sign up to their "Prime" (dis)service by various somewhat underhanded techniques, and I guess they are realising that many people aren't falling for their tricks.

Yep, nearly fell for one of them earlier this year (ordered 4x4tb HD's & another 4 bay external enclosure}. Clicked on checkout & WTF?
Had to go back & UNCHECK Prime as it was on by default. Now I check ALL orders before going to checkout.
Edit: Used Visa debit card. :-)

The result of the match will now be decided by the Uefa control, ethics and disciplinary body next week.

WTF?
Money talks, Covid walks

At least this stupidity has been caught by inspections and enforcement:


P&O: Second ferry detained over safety concerns
wrote:

A second P&O ferry has failed a safety inspection and been detained, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has said.

The Pride of Kent is one of eight ships to need inspections before re-entering service, after 800 staff were sacked.

The firm replaced staff with agency workers paid less than the minimum wage...

The MCA was inspecting the Pride of Kent to make sure it was safe to go to sea without passengers or cargo. A spokesperson for the agency said that the ship had been detained for a mix of reasons including failures on documentation, crew training and emergency equipment not working properly. "We have advised P&O to invite us back once they have addressed the issues. We do not know yet when this will be,"...

... Another P&O Ferries vessel, the European Causeway, failed an MCA Port State Control inspection last week. The ferry was detained in Larne over "failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training"...

... In total, eight P&O Ferries ships need to be inspected on whether or not they are safe to go to sea...

Personally, this kinda reminds me of how what I see as, Boeing appears to treat (deskill, cheapen,) their production lines workforce...

Safety be damned for the sake of greedy profit?...

Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

There are a couple of layers to an MSA inspection. The most obvious is of course the condition of the ship and its equipment. The second is how familiar the crew are with exact layout of the ship, its safety equipment and its safe operation. When a ship has a total crew chance there is an inspection of the second part and that's what they failed on. A failure on the Human" part can then trigger an in-depth inspection of the first part, which is what appears to have happened with P&O's greedy move of sacking the crews and brining in totally new crews without the proper hand-over and training. It's going to cost them a lot of lost revenue to sort this self inflicted mess out.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Did someone for get the dyna bolts or was this a cost saving measure?

Collapsed Amazon warehouse had construction defects, says family of slain worker.

....A tornado outbreak tore through the Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville, Illinois, on December 10th, leveling parts of the building and killing six people. Supporting columns in parts of the warehouse that collapsed might not have been properly secured to the ground, according to a newly unearthed report filed by a structural engineer who was asked by local officials to assess the damage after the tornado.
“A peg coming out of a hole”

“I became concerned when I noticed that none of the columns appeared to be ripped or torn from the base,” the report reads. The report describes the apparent ease with which columns lifted out of the floor as similar to “a peg coming out of a hole.”

The report was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by a lawyer representing the family of Austin McEwen, a 26-year-old delivery driver who died while huddling with other workers in a warehouse restroom for shelter. It is expected to be introduced as part of a wrongful death lawsuit by McEwen’s family.

In particular, the document suggests that the warehouse building was constructed in violation of local and international building codes. The columns supporting the building should have been securely anchored to the floor, but in a number of columns, the engineer found no evidence of anchoring.

“I could find no weld or bolted connection at the base of any column, but only a bead of what appeared to be some sort of caulk around the column at the finished floor line,” the report reads. “An examination of several of the empty pockets where columns once stood also did not reveal any indication of positive securement of the columns at or below the finished floor level.”

The columns appeared to be properly anchored in other parts of the warehouse, which remained standing, McEwen family lawyer Jack Casciato said on a press call today. “Someone just simply didn’t finish the job,” said Casciato on the call....

Don't they have final building inspections done before occupancy over there?

Who are they filing the lawsuit against?
The city, the previous owners, the builders, or Amazon?

Why would Amazon do their own inspection when;

The original developer completed construction on this building in 2018 in compliance with all applicable building codes as documented by the city and the original owner. The building was re-inspected and passed City inspections in 2020 when Amazon leased the building.”

Inspectors are pressed for time. They don't have time to check everything, only a 'random' sample. (the bigger the project the less gets checked) And this sounds like it would have been part of the partial completion inspections before the next stage of construction is begun. There is always inspector B thought inspector A checked it. (Several inspectors come at different times) Never mind what a case of beer can get covered up.

Who gets sued? The builder and subcontractors for sure. The architect and structural engineer likely. The owners back to bare earth. Amazon for not having a safe workplace. The city likely can't be sued for their negligence of missing it, sovereign immunity. Same for the city employee inspector, unless you can prove he took a bribe. Looks like insurance rates are going up.

Maybe an OH&S inspection is needed at Caterpillar.

Illinois foundry worker dies after falling into crucible filled with 2,600F molten iron.

An Illinois foundry worker died when he accidentally fell into a 2,600-degrees Fahrenheit molten iron crucible, burning half of his body while the other half dropped on the factory floor.

Steven Dierkes, 39, was only on the fifth day of his new job on June 2 at Caterpillar Mapleton Foundry in Peoria County when 'he was taking a sample of iron for the met lab and apparently just tripped', an anonymous veteran factory worker identified as 'Ron' told World Socialist Web Site (WSWS).....

....Dierkes' death comes six months after a contractor working at the Caterpillar Inc foundry fell to his death when he apparently stepped off a ladder at the plant, authorities said.

Scott M. Adams, 50, of East Peoria, was pronounced dead on December 23 after his fall. He was working as a contractor at the foundry from Schaefer Electric in Peoria, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The governmental agency's preliminary investigation revealed that Adams stepped off a ladder before falling 20 feet (6.1 meters) to his death through a hole in the floor.

The deaths of the two plant workers within the last year are the third in over 30 years since Ron first started working there.

'They dropped a 10-ton hook and block from an overhead gantry crane on a man during the strike,' he told WSWS of the factory's first death, which reportedly took place in the 1990s although it remains unclear.

Safety and health violations have been flagged at the Caterpillar foundry in the last 30 years, according to WSWS. There was a strike at the factory held by employees between 1991-1992 and another 17-month strike in 1994-1995.

The Caterpillar Mapleton facility was recently fined $5,750 in 2020 for a safety violation in relation to 'fall protection systems and falling objects.'

The foundry was also fined several thousands of dollars on multiple occasions in 2019 and in 2017.

It's very much a one-way journey when someone falls into a crucible of molten metal. Sadly this is not a unique occurrence, there have been a few over the years.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

What's that message on road warning signs about tiredness kills?...


Wizz Air boss sparks backlash over fatigue request
wrote:

Wizz Air is facing a backlash from pilot unions after the airline's boss appeared to call on crew to work through fatigue.

Chief executive Jozsef Varadi said staff should go "the extra mile" when tired so that the airline could avoid cancelling flights.

Pilot unions said flying when fatigued is dangerous and his comments showed a "deficient safety culture"...

There are many ways tiredness kills above and beyond the airfield/airport...

Has Wizz Air gone spiraling down the deadly ways of Boeing?...


Stay safe folks!
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)