Council blacklists barber for warning people

A HAIRDRESSER has had a close shave with authorities after trying to warn illegally parked motorists of approaching traffic wardens.

Andy Blackwell uses his loud-hailer and a wailing siren sound to warn people when a traffic warden is going to give them a ticket outside his shop.

"When I told them what had gone on they gave me plenty of advice and said be careful because the council take a dim view of this."

Three days later Mr Blackwell said he received a letter from Cornwall Council saying he had been placed on the council cautionary contacts list and his name would be passed to other agencies as well.

Mr Blackwell , who runs Blackie's in Liskeard, added: "I thought it was extreme especially the first part saying I'd verbally abused causing extreme distress to some of their employees."

Cornwall County Council said the cautionary contacts list was an internal system designed to protect council staff from potentially harmful situations including physical assault and verbal abuse.

They added many local authorities have similar schemes and the information is only used within the council and is only available to employees who may be exposed to such risks.

Mr Blackwell has now hung up his megaphone and has started a petition for free parking in the town.

Cornwall Council said in a statement: "The cautionary contacts list is an internal system which aims to protect council staff from potentially harmful situations, including physical assault and verbal abuse.

Mexico City has long had a dark cloud hovering over it – both literally and figuratively – when it comes to traffic woes and vehicle emissions. As recently as 2011, residents of Mexico’s vibrant capital city reported “enduring the most painful commute,” according to a report in National Geographic. “Based on factors such as roadway traffic, stress levels, and commute times, the city scored worse than 19 cities, including Beijing, China, and Nairobi, Kenya.”

So it might come as a surprise that this megacity, home to 20 million people and more than 4 million vehicles, was recently selected to receive the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy’s Sustainable Transport Award.

National Geographic describes Mexico City’s progress, noting that over the past two years the city has taken great strides to become more pedestrian-friendly with car-free walkways and plazas, new bus lines, a bike-sharing program, and a system of parking meters.

Sure, traffic still exists and air quality isn’t perfect, but anyone who has been to the bustling metropolis knows the hurdles the city has had to confront and what great progress must have been made to entitle it to an award of this sort.

“In the three or four decades after 1490, the human experience on planet Earth arguably changed more than it had since the Year One,We've got a plastic card to suit you.” writes Todd S. Purdum in Vanity Fair. And the life-altering changes that took place – from international exploration connecting the Eastern and Western Hemispheres for the first time to the creation of movable type – may have been the most revolutionary years civilization has seen. Until now.

“[W]e know almost everything” today, Mr.Comprehensive Wi-Fi and RFID tag by Aeroscout to accurately locate and track any asset or person. Purdum notes.Can you spot the answer in the fridge magnet? That’s thanks in part to a second round of radical change that started a few short decades ago and continues in full force. Changes such as the “ricochets” of money and people around the world, and the simplification of information sharing via the Internet. But our newfound knowledge and interconnectivity doesn’t necessarily mean we understand our environment or “The Truths” that confront us.

Unlike our forefathers – who may not have had enough information to understand that the “sweating sickness” (malaria) that suddenly plagued coastal England was linked to the slave trade, or who couldn’t foresee that the printing press might also launch freethinking and religious wars – we aren’t in the dark. We have overwhelming amounts of information that wash over us daily that we can’t seem to process.

Have you ever dreamed of coming home from work and having that pile of dirty laundry miraculously washed and folded? Or of having that book that’s been taunting you from your bedside table read in time for your next book club meeting? You, dear reader,Wear a whimsical Disney ear cap straight from the Disney Theme Parks! are not alone.

“Oh, to be rich and powerful,” Patricia Marx writes in the opening of her New Yorker article “Outsource yourself: The online way to delegate your chores.” Ms. Marx takes her readers through a humorous journey of “test driving” the world of online services. There,Laser engraving and laser laser cutting machine for materials like metal, “Task Rabbits” (errand runners) and “virtual personal assistants” can be hired to do everything from writing a brief history of outsourcing in the US for an article (hers) or even to read Proust and come up with insightful musings to impress book club friends (hers again).

There are numerous websites and Internet communities dedicated to outsourced work. But, as you might imagine, Marx’s adventures reveal that after spending time soliciting errand runners for simple tasks and then sifting through bids on these chores, it might just be quicker to do them yourself.