World Homeless Day Date in the current year: October 10, 2020

World Homeless DayWorld Homeless Day is marked by people around the world on October 10. It is dedicated to a global problem that affects most countries. The main goal of this international observance is to encourage people to change the lives of homeless people in their local community.
Homeless people are people who don’t have a permanent dwelling. Homelessness can be caused by many reasons, including, but not limited to, lack of affordable housing, forced eviction, gentrification, domestic violence, living with a disability or mental disorder, poverty, natural disasters, social exclusion, and more. According to 2005 statistics, an estimated 100 million people worldwide were homeless and 1 billion people lived as refugees, squatters or in temporary shelter, lacking adequate housing.

The concept of World Homeless Day was conceived in online discussions on the global issue of homelessness involving people from various parts of the world. It was marked for the first time on October 10, 2010. World Homeless Day is designed to raise awareness of homelessness as a global issue, to combat associated stigma (contrary to a popular misconception, not all homeless people are addicts or criminals), and to encourage people to get involved in responding to homelessness.

The best way to celebrate World Homeless Day is to support local service providers for homeless people. You can volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen, donate clothes or food items, etc. Even if it seems like you’re not doing much, you’re still making a difference.

My partner Lynn thought of a worrying scenario the other day. Is there anyone reading this who knows more about American politics than I do and can comment about if it would be feasible?
Supposing Donald Trump loses the forthcoming election (as seems likely) and then decides to step down as President, making the Deputy President Mike Pence the President for the rest of the term. President Pence then gives Donald Trump a presidential pardon for any crimes he may have committed including tax fraud, corruption, assault or whatever.
So Donald Trump walks away with no possibility of him being taken to court or jailed.
It would be an outrage, but is it possible?

Scooploop appears to have a leaky server (computer that stores posts etc.) I have read of disappearing posts, and just now I had a look back to see someone's old posts, and they had all gone but one. Tried someone else, and all of their comments are gone. Have a look to see if you've been 1984d!

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October 8, 2020

World Sight DayWorld Sight Day is an annual awareness day held by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) on the second Thursday in October. It focuses on raising public awareness of vision impairment and blindness.
In 1998, Lion Clubs International launched Lions World Sight Day to draw attention to the plight of sight loss in the countries of the third world. In 2000, the IAPB supported the initiative and integrated World Sight Day into its program VISION 2020. World Sight Day has been celebrated on the second Thursday of October ever since. The IAPB organizes it in cooperation with WHO (World Health Organization).

World Sight Day aims at focusing global attention on blindness and vision impairment as major international public health issues. Events and activities held on the occasion focus on educating people about blindness prevention programs and generating support for VISION 2020.

According to statistics, approximately 39 million people worldwide are blind, and 90% of them live in low-income countries. Another 246 million are visually impaired. 80% of visual impairment can be treated and/or prevented. VISION 2020 and World Sight Day were created to convey this information and encourage people worldwide to support blindness and visual impairment prevention strategies.

Numbers seem to be rising almost everywhere but I can't see how we can afford another full lockdown (couldn't afford the first). People can't get hospital appointments and business are going under every day. So, is it time to shield the elderly/vulnerable and let the young and fit keep their jobs/education? Some who are vulnerable but young will need financial assistance. Obviously there are difficult decisions to be made but I don't believe we can afford to keep on shutting things down and delaying the inevitable. What do you all think?

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A fisherman claims to have found plane wreckage which could be from Malaysian airlines flight MH370 which disappeared back in 2014. It was found off the coast of Queensland, so nowhere near where they have searched originally, which was off the coast of West Australia.

World Cerebral Palsy Day Date in the current year: October 7, 2020

World Cerebral Palsy Day17 million people across the world suffer from cerebral palsy, a lifelong lasting disability with no known cure. World Cerebral Palsy Day was created as a global project to change the world of people living with cerebral palsy. It's annually observed on the first Wednesday in October.
World Cerebral Palsy Day was launched by Cerebral Palsy Alliance (Australia) and United Cerebral Palsy (USA). The event was supported by over 270 cerebral palsy service organizations and hospitals from 46 countries. The event is more than just an awareness day. It aims at gathering the ideas from people suffering cerebral palsy or their relatives and supporters and make them come true.

The main theme of this event is express an idea via text or video, that would change, if invented, the world of people living with cerebral palsy. The idea wouldn't take longer than one minute to read or view. The best ideas are chosen and implemented into life for free.

Participation in World Cerebral Palsy Day is open to anyone. The campaign is supported only by the generosity of the Allergan Foundation.

Walk to School Day, also known as Walk & Bike to School Day, is an annual awareness event that typically takes place on the first Wednesday in October. It was established in 1997 and has been held each year ever since.
Walk to School Day was created in order to raise awareness of the importance of improved, safer and more accessible streets, less traffic, and reduced air pollution in communities across the USA. It also aims to promote healthier habits and active lifestyle from an early age. The first campaign was held in 1997, it was called Walk Our Children to School Day.

Since 2006, informational and technical support and resources for National Walk to School Say in the United States have been provided by the National Center for Safe Routes to School, an organization that helps states and communities implement Safe Routes to Schools programs. These programs aim to enable and encourage children to safely walk or bike to school.

Over time, Walk to School Day has become an international event. Each October, thousands of children from more than 40 countries walk to school instead of taking city/school buses or being driven by their parents. Parents, schools, community leaders and all levels of government join efforts to organize Walk to School Day events and spread the word.

Rock star and guitar great Eddie Van Halen has died aged 65 after a "long and arduous battle" with throat cancer, his son has said.

You may be aware that some reviews cannot be trusted, as they are placed by people who are paid to do so. Having acquired some rubbish products, I thought it would be helpful to have a group where members could post about how pleased/displeased they were with a product or service, or ask for recommendations for a product or service they would like to buy, or share any money-saving tips. Click here to join: https://www.scooploop.com/groups/productutility-or-service-recommendations-money-saving-tips

Date in the current year: October 5, 2020

World Habitat DayWorld Habitat Day is an annual United Nations observance held on the first Monday of October. It was officially established in 1985. The first celebration was held on October 6, 1986 with the theme “Shelter is My Right”.
World Habitat Day events and activities are coordinated by the United Nations Settlements Program (UN-Habitat), the UN agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development. They focus on reflecting on the state of human settlements and raising awareness of the importance of the basic human right to adequate shelter.

On the occasion of World Habitat Day, UN-Habitat gives the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honor Award, honoring individuals and institutions that have made significant contributions to the field of human settlements development, improving the living conditions in towns and cities around the world. The award have been given out since 1989.

Each year, the United Nations chooses a new theme for the World Habitat Day campaign. All participants are encouraged to link their events and activities to the current year's theme. For example, the 2014 theme was “Voices from Slums”. The 2014 campaign focused on raising global awareness of living conditions in slums across the world.

Did you know that some young people are offended by full stops at the end of texts and emails? It is considered rude. One person described it as 'turning your back on someone when you're speaking with them. One couple even split up after arguing about full stops.
Microsoft now deems that having two spaces after a full stop before starting a new sentence, is incorrect, and will be flagged accordingly. Time for a full stop to this malarky!

It's World Space Week; ask Alexa to sing you a space song. https://www.worldspaceweek.org/

This programme came on BBC1 last night and its actually quite funny. The racist in me assumed she was Chinese because of the slanty eyes but turns out she is American born with Korean background. Nora Lum is her reall name. She is also a singer. Here is one of her songs. Don't watch if you are easily offended.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z726OPwCnjE
Apparently the song got her sacked when her boss heard it.
She was also in the film, Crazy Rich Asians.

I received this email today from HM Courts & Tribunals Service
This is a scam. Note: email address, strange amount and phone number unavailable.

Tried to edit to show email address HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Doesn't appear to work on here, it is workhub@atexto plus the usual .com

Just had an email from Sainsburys advising me to place my Christmas order asap. order by 8th November for free bottle of bubbly or box of chocs.
Blimey i don't even know what i will want next week yet.

My first choice...

Life has taught me this

Everyday is new

And if everything is true

All that matters when we're through is how we love

Faced with what we lack

Some things fall apart

But from the ashes new dreams start

All that matters to the heart is how we love

How we love, how we love

With the smallest act of kindness

In a word, a smile, a touch

In spite of our mistakes

Chances come again

If we lose or if we win

All that matters in the end is how we love

How we love, how we love

I will not forget your kindness

When I needed it so much

Sometimes we forget

Trying to be so strong

In this world of right and wrong

All that matters when we're gone

All that mattered all along

All we have that carries on...is how we love

A liberal elite cyclists campaign group wants anyone who says "Lycra Louts" at cyclists to be arrested for hate crime.
They also want the word "accident" banned when a cyclist is involved in an accident. Instead they want the report to begin, "Collision between a cyclist and a crimiinal motorist".
They want every collision to be reported as the motorist fault.
They want it never mentioned if the cyclist wasn't wearing a helmet or hi-viz clothing.

Stanley Johnson has been pictured in a shop not wearing a face mask.

Boris Johnson’s father said he was “extremely sorry” after being pictured in a London newsagents on Tuesday without a face covering.

Face masks have been compulsory in shops and supermarkets in England since July.

The picture of the UK prime minister’s father emerged after fines increased to £200 last week for first time offenders who fail to wear a face covering in accordance with government guidance.

Speaking to the Mirror, Mr Johnson Sr said he may not be "100 per cent up to speed" with current rules as he had just returned to England after three weeks abroad.

Panorama - Whistleblowers. Please watch or record. Repeat Friday 2.15 am on BBC 2

What a waste of money and we still in a mess.

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Had an email from Asda saying my priority delivery pass will end on 31st October, after that it's back to normal ie - pay full price for delivery, minimum order charge and just get a slot whenever you can.
Christmas slots released 6th November so book early.

This is another good drama on BBC1 on Sunday nights. Although it does clash with Singapore Grip. I won't spoil the storyline but i have a question.

Is their son a trans? you have to watch the flashback scenes in episode two see what I'm thinking.

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Just had a 1 minute power cut, lost internet and phone beeped with a message to check time.
Then had a call fro UK Power networks asking if had power as registered as priority/vulnerable by my supplier.
Never had that before and never heard of UK Power networks.

Sing-a-long

Edward and Pip making sausage rolls on this nippy Autumn morning, they can't wait for them to come out of the oven, just the thing to warm their 'cockles' ! lol

Just a little thing but - recently I refused a substitute with my grocery delivery and the driver is supposed to log this for a refund, from my bank account I have just found out that he didn't so had to phone Asda to get it.

As the largest group, I thought it would be interesting to see how many of its members are still around. During the recent discussion about members, I looked to see how many Anything members had never posted, and it was about 60. So please say hello, even if you are a regular poster. Percentage of members still around at last count: 25% (includes known non-helloers)

How the Silent Solution* system works:

A silent 999 call alone will not automatically bring help.

Please read the information below to understand how this system works:

WHEN YOU CALL 999: All 999 calls are directed to call centres and will be answered by BT operators. The BT operator will ask which service you need: Fire, Police or Ambulance. If you call 999 and don’t speak, the BT operator will be listening out for background noises (coughs, noises, taps on the phone, pressing 55, etc.) and will hang on the line for a certain period of time. If no requests are made and the BT operator believes the call needs to go through to an emergency service, it will always go to the police first. If no service is requested, but anything suspicious is heard throughout the process, the BT operator will connect you to the Silent Solution system.

The Silent Solution is a police system used to filter out large numbers of accidental or hoax 999 calls. It also exists to help people who are unable to speak, but who genuinely need police assistance. You will hear an automated police message, which lasts for 20 seconds and begins with ‘you are through to the police’. It will ask you to press 55 to be put through to police call management. The BT operator will remain on the line and listen. If you press 55, tap or make a noise, they will be notified and transfer the call to the police. If you don’t do any of the above, the call will be terminated after 45 seconds.
If you pressed 55, a police call handler will announce that you are through to the police.

If you can’t speak, you will be asked to tap the phone, make a noise or press 55. The police call handler will try a number of ways so that you do not feel under pressure to carry out just one prescribed action.

Only by pressing 55, tapping the phone, coughing, or making noise are you guaranteed a response to your call from a police call handler despite your silence. It is much easier to speak to the operator. But if you must stay silent, a mechanism has been provided that you can use to acquire help regardless.

Pressing 55 will not bring emergency services to your door and does not allow the police to track your location. By choosing to stay on the line, you are informing the police call handler that you might have an emergency that keeps you from talking, and they will do everything they can to determine your location so they can deploy officers to you.

The police call handler will try and engage with you, if you remain silent they will attempt to engage further and ask you to tap the phone if you are unable to speak; for example, yes and no questions can be asked by the call handler and answered using one keypad press for yes and two for no.

If the police call handler has concerns about your safety, they will continue to try to communicate through sound.

If you are able to speak without putting yourself in danger, the police call handler will ask just yes and no questions if necessary. In some cases, the conversation is led by the caller, who sometimes tries and speaks to the police call handlers in code, if for example the perpetrator has reappeared.

If you can say only one thing, please say your location. If you call from a mobile, we can pin point an estimate location but this does not narrow down enough to provide data we can locate you on.

Police call handlers can request subscriber checks and can carry out background checks to assist in locating you. This can depend on whether you have contacted the police before. Also, if your phone is registered to you, it could determine whether this will provide a potential location for you.

The police call handlers will deal with calls on a case by case basis, as each call is different, and the style of the call is adapted in line with the circumstances.

Silent Solution* = calling 999 without speaking, then pressing 55.
(Article compiled by Thames Valley Police)

Just had an email saying my NS&I savings bonds are going own from 1.16 to .01, time to switch again.

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Just wondered if anyone on here is waiting for a hip replacement. If so, how long have you been waiting?
With the current situation I wondered how long the wait is.
Has anyone gone private? and any idea of the cost?

Are we heading for a national lockdown? Will London be next? Have the majority given up wearing masks and self distancing? Will closing pubs at 10pm make a difference? If London commuters are given a free day of public transport, under a plan being considered to help revive the city economy, will this make the situation worse?
Picture is Camden on Saturday. I was in Orpington on Saturday evening, restaurants were packed with all tables close together and staff not wearing masks or sheilds, customers entering take aways without masks and no one walking in the high street wearing a mask or self distancing. Friends say it is the same all over London. Have you given up?

Edward and Pip checking out their first ever attempt at growing tomatoes. They take so long to go from green to red, they are getting impatient now, lol

We just took on this company for pet insurance as one review site was 4.7 out of 5 & good reviews but just now read a different site and a lot of bad reviews has anyone else used this company? & had to claim & has the monthly premiums shot up?

In the last few days there's been three articles in the papers about food and drink at extortionate prices.
Firstly there was Gordon Ramsay's Full English at the Savoy Grill. For only £19 you get a rasher of bacon, a sausage, a mushroom, a tomato and an egg. You can add other items for £5 each.
Then there was his Steak et Frites at his gastropub in Camden for £23. Not bad except the steak was about quarter the size of a normal 8oz. with a Mcdonalds size portion of fries.
Finally there was the £50 cup of coffee at a Mayfair coffee shop. The owners paid over £2000 for some Ethiopian coffee beans that are the best in the world, so the salesperson said. If you order a cup, the beans are ground by hand and the coffee is dripped through a cone shaped filter. Then you have to stare at your cup for 90 seconds as the coffee reduces to optimum temperature.
The good thing is that the Ethiopian growers will get most of the £2000 under the Fairtrade scheme.

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Did anyone watch this on Sunday?
I read that some viewers gave up on it already because they kept moving back and forth in the timeline. But that only happened once at the start when Matthew (Luke Treadaway) is caught up in the Japanese attack on Singapore. Then they go back to 6 months earlier. The episode follows a normal timeline from then.
It's historically accurate as well which upsets certain people.

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Was in the High Street yesterday at around 3pm. Saw a bus pull up with the notice "School Bus". The driver let schoolkids and adults on the bus.

If you wondered, as I did, why ministers and others have been a wearing a wheat sheaf badge on the lapel, Wednesday 9th September was Back British Farming Day.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-wearing-wheat-sheaf-badge-lapel-today-keir-starmer-british-farmers-campaign-explained-641045

This one almost caught me out as the email is , confirmation @ tvlicensing.co.uk
Also because I have just had to buy a tv licence and the yearly DD payment was only last week. The body of the email says this
Dear michael@email.addy
Today is your last chance to remain licensed.

You won't be covered if you let your licence expire.

As we couldn't take the latest payment from your bank account, this amount will also need to be paid when you set up your new Direct Debit.
Here is a button to "setup your new Direct Debit".
Renew your TV Licence before it expires on 11/09/2020 to remain legally licensed.

It's only when you hover the mouse over that button you see www. jiax. isp. com/ veri and realise its a phishing email.
The other giveaway is a genuine email would start, Dear My Name.

Just so you all know ...as not like it’s confusing !

So funny but also true , just read this ..what you think !

Let's clear all this Bullshit up 🤣🤣🤣

If anyone is having difficulty working out these new Covid rules, I’ve broken them down for you...

You can meet hundreds of people at work🏢or school🏫 you can brush shoulders🙎‍♀️, pick their noses👃and lick their face👅 if you wish?!But don’t meet more than 6 of these people in leisure time as the virus has mutated🤷‍♀️

It now only infects you if there’s 7 or more people in a group and you’re chilling out🧖‍♀️ It can not infect you at school or work, because it’s scared of the huge crowds of people🤔

You can still go to a pub🍻 where you are in an enclosed building breathing in everyone’s germs🧫 because Covid doesn’t drink🚫 so it doesn’t go to the pub of course🤷‍♀️

But scientists have discovered that Covid is quite partial to your parents👫 or friends👯‍♀️garden⚘🌱or house🏠 or in the open air🏞 where social distancing is very easy!

In fact, this is so risky😷that councillors are probably sat🪑 round a table in the local pub, discussing the closure of them right now!

It’s still ok for you to cram into tourists spots🗽🎡🎢🎠 as long as only 6 of you come at once, because 7 might tip it over the edge and make Covid sad🥺

But you are alright until Monday because the Virus must be still on Holiday🥳

Think that should clear things up! 😁

We NEED your help

Following the recent police operation in Orpington, a series of dogs have been found & confirmed or suspected to be stolen, if you know any of these 4 legged friends please get in contact & share,share,share please. Call 101 @MetCC and quote Op Medusa