I found this on my colleagues blog site Semper Quaerens. I found this very amusing and very typical of media attitudes over at Aunty. Not having to sell advertising for a living has not made the ABC independent and unbiased, but rather they have become opinionated and superior.
I recall Clint Eastwood’s quote from one of his movies which I feel is an apt description of the ABC. They are “a legend in their own minds”.
A new chapter in the history of Skopje Alexander the Great Airport began as it opened the doors to its brand new terminal. The multi million Euro project took just over a year to complete and will allow Macedonia’s capital to have the most modern airport facilities in the former Yugoslavia. The new terminal at Skopje Airport is ten times the size of the current terminal building, which was built in 1987 and will be closed as of tomorrow. The new terminal stretches over two levels and 40.100 square metres. Besides the new terminal the runway has been lengthened in order to accommodate larger aircraft. Furthermore, millions have been invested into supporting infrastructure such as access roads, a car park and an administrative office building.
The development of the new terminal was made possible by the Turkish airport operator, TAV Holdings, which took over the management of both Skopje and Ohrid airports from the government in early 2010. As a result, the opening ceremony of the new terminal was attended by Turkish government officials and businessmen.
Macedonia’s Prime Minister said that the new terminal was one of the biggest and most complex investments in the country. Thousands of people turned out to see the opening of the new terminal. Special busses were organised from the city centre so the public could get a glimpse of the new facilities and look around.
TAV will now begin work in other fields to improve the airport’s offering. The company will soon begin the construction of a new web page for both Skopje and Ohrid airports and will work with the Skopje public transport
company for it to have a bus line from the airport to the city. The operator is also working hard on finding an established airline to base an aircraft in Skopje, which would lead to an increase in passenger numbers. In the first half of the year, Skopje saw a passenger increase of 8%.
A total of 110 million Euros has been invested into the new terminal which features air bridges, several duty free shops, a food court, 23 check in desks, over a dozen passport control counters and has the capacity to handle 4 million passengers per year.
Comment:
Oh dear! Oh dear! I fear that this just another example of poor investment.
Most of the “visitors” through Skopje will be returning ex-patriots who are visiting relatives and families in MK. The amount of true tourists who have no familial ties to Macedonia can be measured in the hundreds annually.
Speaking from experience, Skopje can be a difficult destination to get to, depending on where your journey starts. For example, try coming from the UK! Only Wizz Air offers a five days a week flight direct Luton-Skopje, and they can be extremely difficult to deal with. So last time I came to Skopje from the UK, it was via Munich-Belgrade-Skopje.
But back to the point, projected “increases” in passenger throughputs are highly speculative and inaccurate. What is there about Macedonia that suddenly will increase tourism? Transit passengers to where? Macedonians who can afford to fly, do so as fares out of other Balkan airports are cheaper due to high fuel costs in MK. So is that going change? I suspect not! Macedonia has no national carrier since the debacle that was MAT, and cannot attract an airline to base there. So what is going to change to support this airport? Gospo znaj! (God knows!)
I’ll be there again in September to find out what has changed. My best guess? Nishto! (Nothing!)
When this so called “investment” dos not pay off, who is going to be left carrying the can? You can bet it won’t be the Turks (no disrespect intended or inferred), rather the Macedonian people through the financial ineptitude of their government!
I am a little slow getting this post published. My first day back in control after 3 weeks holiday, I was called upon to manage control of this school bus accident.
The school bus had veered off the road and ended up where you see it now. On board the bus were 33 children and the driver.
Paramedics treated all of these people and were transported to the nearby hospital.
The cause of the accident being investigated.
For all you travel buffs out there, of course you want to travel on the best possible airline, don’t you? Well now you can. The results for 2013 are in, and here they are:
1. Emirates
2. Qatar Airways
3. Singapore Airlines
4. ANA All Nippon Airways
5. Asiana Airlines
6. Cathay Pacific
7. Etihad Airways
8. Garuda Indonesia
9. Turkish Airlines
10. QANTAS
Compare this with results for 2012 here.
The World Airline Awards are determined by passenger surveys conducted by research firm Skytrax, who surveyed more than 18 million passengers.
As always, it was Middle-Eastern and Asian carriers that dominated the top spots, with no airlines from the US or Europe cracking the top 10.
Last year’s No.1 airline, Qatar Airways, dropped one place to number two, while Singapore Airlines remained in third place for the second year in a row.
Emirates president Tim Clark said the awards were regarded as the industry’s benchmark for excellence.
Emirates recently began an alliance with QANTAS which saw Australia’s national carrier make Dubai its new hub for flights into Europe.
QANTAS was also awarded Best Airline Australia-Pacific and budget offshoot Jetstar Airways won Best Low Cost Airline for our region.
A surprise result was also the continued rise of Garuda Airlines, which moved from number 11 to number 8. The airline, which was banned by the European Union from flying to Europe due to safety concerns until mid-2009, has made great efforts to improve its safety and service levels in recent years.
Turkish Airlines, which recently signalled its intention to become the world’s first airline to fly non-stop between Australia and Europe, also made the top 10. Turkish Airlines is currently the fastest growing carrier in the world.
Romanian politician, Remus Cernea is pushing a cause that he acknowledges his fellow lawmakers care little about: giving dolphins the same rights as humans.
The 39-year-old activist politician introduced a bill in the Romanian parliament last week that would recognise the marine mammals as “non-human persons”, on account of their highly developed intelligence, personalities and behaviour patterns.
The aim of the bill is to help protect Romania’s indigenous dolphins in the Black Sea, Cernea said. It would also add the country’s voice to a global movement against dolphin killings.
But gathering domestic support may be tough in a year when Romania goes to the polls twice, first in the European elections in May and later to vote for a new president. Animal rights will have to find space alongside issues such as corruption and raising living standards and public services in the European Union’s second poorest country.
“At this moment, I have no support,” Cernea told Reuters during a visit to the city of Constanta on the Black Sea coast.
“This law asks you to make a huge step, philosophically speaking, to understand and to accept that somehow there is another species which is quite similar as we are,” he added.
They’ve got to be kidding, right! Non-humans with human rights? Surely this is a contradiction in terms? What about whales? Where would this stop? BTW, Romania only has 225km of coastline!
Source: Reuters
Have look at this bizarre movie were a man on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia performed a handstand on the roof of his moving car without a driver!
He probably would have got away with this stunt, but of course he posted his exploits on Youtube for all the world to see. As a result of this action, Queensland Police became aware of his deeds and promptly arrested him. You see, this intellectual giant did not have the nous to remove the front number plate from his vehicle before filming himself! This oversight allowed police to coming knocking on his door. Now he will probably do jail time as a result.
I gotta love people like this! Their stupidity has kept me gainfully employed for years!
I was first made aware of this bizarre incident on Michael Eburn’s blog Australian Emergency Law.
It appears that a CHP (California Highway Patrol) officer arrested a firefighter in Chula Vista for refusing to move a fire truck, rather deciding to continue to treat an injured casualty in the accident. The firefighter was detained for 30 minutes and placed in a police car, but was later released without charge. The chief of the Chula Vista FD has been in crisis talks with CHP to ensure that this situation will not occur again.
In 36 years of emergency service work I have never seen this happen in NSW. Nor would I expect to! I would expect (and indeed demand) as a senior ranked officer, that patient care take precedence over the moving of an emergency vehicle. The CHP officer should perhaps be out controlling traffic and leaving the paramedic/firefighter to his job. Perhaps the firefighter has grounds for an action of “hindering an emergency worker from carrying out their duty” (or similar) against the CHP officer. In the UK, by virtue of The Emergency Workers (Obstruction) Act 2006, it is an offence to assault, hinder or obstruct an emergency worker (for example, a paramedic, doctor or nurse) while they are carrying out their duties. The penalty can be up to £10,000. The myriad of emergency service officers operating in the USA probably contributes to this situation.
I do remember testy operations between members of the Ambulance and Police Rescue Squads in NSW, who both would be dispatched to the same motor vehicle accident, or entrapment and would be a bit of a race to see who could get to a scene first and commence rescue operations. Rescue services were rationalised with the introduction of the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act in 1989, which in part gave control of reponding rescue resources to the Police Radio Senior Operations Officer (SOO), who ensured that only the nearest (qualified) rescue unit responded. However this sort of thing never happened, but I never did understand why police were involved in rescue operations. These days, Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) carries out most of the rescue responses.
This post is slightly different from that of Michael Eburn’s as it shows some of the follow up actions of the Chula Vista FD with the CHP. Find Michael’s legal view here.
For what it’s worth, I support the firefighter.
This is not the first time a police officer has arrested a fiirefighter in the course of carrying out his duty. Observe this incident:
Continuing the fire brigades theme, here are a number of photos taken at a bush fire in the Gretley Colliery area of Wallsend off Downie Lane. The fire was tucked away in a remote parcel of bushland and it took firecrews a little time to locate the seat of the fire.
Fire running up the hill
When the fire was located, it was decided that a backburning operation would take place to minimise fuel available for further bushfire in this area.
Backburning
It took a number of hours to eventually extinguish the slow burning fire which burnt out approximately 3 hectares of bushland. The ignition was probably arson.
Looking over the lake
A tanker parked at the side of a small lake.
Lights at Night
All done! Time to return to station!
Camera: Apple iPhone 5 64Gb; Copyright (C) George Brown 2014
A 21-year-old man has been charged after allegedly assaulting a female ambulance paramedic in the Sydney city overnight.
At about 2.20am Sunday, police from Operation Simmer were patrolling George Street, Haymarket, when they came across the man who they said was unresponsive and possibly intoxicated.
Officers called for assistance from NSW Ambulance, whose paramedics attended a short time later. Police allege that as a female paramedic attempted to treat the man, he struck her in the face and pushed her to the ground, before starting to kick her. Police intervened and after a short struggle, the man was arrested.
The paramedic, who has taken time off from work, suffered wrist and back injuries, as well as contusions to her face, a NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said.
The Plumpton man was taken to Sydney City Police Station and charged with common assault. He was granted conditional bail to appear before the Downing Centre Local Court on February 24. Operation Simmer focuses on Sydney’s CBD, Darlinghurst and Kings Cross, is conducted in the city every weekend as part of a summer-long crackdown targeting alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour.
This is just another example of a cowardly attack on a female paramedic by an intoxicated lout. NSW Ambulance has indicated that they have a zero tolerance on violence directed toward paramedics, and will pursue offenders vigorously through the courts. I know this paramedic believes the full weight of the law should be applied to the perpetrators of these cowardly acts. Assaulting a paramedic carries the same sentence as assaulting police.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 2/02/2014.
Those of you who know my background as an emergency service worker, might appreciate these photos I snapped at a fire I attended which occurred in a whitegoods outlet in Mayfield, NSW on the evening of the 27th January 2014.
![IMG_2910[1]](https://vandaair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/img_29101.jpg)
This was the amount of smoke billowing into the air, as I arrived. Already there were a number of police, paramedic and fire department (FRNSW) appliances on site.
![IMG_2914[1]](https://vandaair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/img_29141.jpg)
A view down the side street to the heart of the fire. The fire in the front of the building had already been extinguished by fire units on scene.
![IMG_2918[1]](https://vandaair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/img_29181.jpg)
Another view of the side street and fire fighters putting water onto the fire.
![IMG_2920[1]](https://vandaair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/img_29201.jpg)
Emergency service units on scene, and a “tangle” of hoses connected the nearby aerial appliance.
![IMG_2929[1]](https://vandaair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/img_29291.jpg)
A night view of the Cooks Hill fire station (Stn 260) Bronto.
![IMG_2934[1]](https://vandaair.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/img_29341.jpg)
Another aerial appliance playing water onto the fire.
Camera: Apple iPhone 5
George Brown is a decorated soldier and health professional and 40 year veteran in the field of emergency nursing and paramedical practice, both military and civilian areas. He has senior management positions in the delivery of paramedical services. Opinions expressed in these columns are solely those of the author and should not be construed as being those of any organization to which he may be connected.
He was born in the UK of Scottish ancestry from Aberdeen and a member of the Clan MacDougall. He is a member of the Macedonian community in Newcastle, and speaks fluent Macedonian. While this may seem a contradiction, it is his wife who is Macedonian, and as a result he embraced the Macedonian language and the Orthodox faith.
His interests include aviation and digital photography, and he always enjoys the opportunity to combine the two. Navigate to his Flickr site to see recent additions to his photo library.
Џорџ Браун е украсени војник и професионално здравствено лице и 40 годишен ветеран во областа на за итни случаи старечки и парамедицински пракса, двете воени и цивилни области. Тој има високи менаџерски позиции во испораката на парамедицински услуги. Мислењата изразени во овие колумни се исклучиво на авторот и не треба да се толкува како оние на било која организација тој може да биде поврзан.
Тој е роден во Велика Британија на шкотскиот потекло од Абердин и член на Kланот MacDougall. Тој е член на македонската заедница во Њукасл, и зборува течно македонски. Иако ова можеби изгледа контрадикција, тоа е неговата сопруга кој е македонски, и како резултат научил македонскиот јазик и ја примија православната вера.
Неговите интереси вклучуваат авијација и дигитална фотографија, и тој секогаш ужива во можност да се комбинираат двете. Отиди до неговиот Фликр сајт да видите последните дополнувања на неговата слика библиотека.
Emergency vehicle visibility and conspicuity research & comments for the Police, Fire, EMS and Ambulance: The AV Blog is written by John Killeen
Smile! You’re at the best WordPress.com site ever
Focus, Fun, and Creativity
I write, blog, vlog and poet...I wander, I ponder and I recollect ...DIGITAL NOMAD & PHILOSOPHER
Discussion on the law that applies to or affects Australia's emergency services and emergency management, by Michael Eburn, PhD, Australian Lawyer. Email: meburn@australianemergencylaw.com
The Butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.
"Everything is possible to him who will try"
Thoughts on growing up and growing old in the digital age
Blog with Journalistic and Historical articles
Macedonian Orthodox communities in Australia
EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING
a Feminist Phenomenology (or something)
Oh, let's see...distinguished Gen-X'er, frustrated writer and mom living in the confines of a small town that thinks it's a big deal. And have I mentioned Walmart yet?
A Story Begins
Film, Life and Culture
The Diary of a Retiree
Words, By George! 