YOUR VIEWS

BUILD MORE CARE HOMES

WITH the current NHS crisis I think government and local government should be looking to build more nursing homes in close proximity to hospitals.

If they look closely in their areas they will perhaps even find empty government buildings which we, the taxpayers have paid for. I refer to the empty tax office on Eastgate, an almost unused building. Surely an empty unit like that will soon start to rot if neglected much longer?

It would seem that no company seems to want to move into what is almost a ghost town as far as business and commerce is concerned.

So why not reclaim such buildings and put them to good use?

If not for NHS, why not convert to council flats or indeed flats for the homeless? Walmsley Walmsley, via email

RIDICULOUS ROADWORKS

REGARDING the Rishton road closure, superficially the situation looks ridiculous.

The hole nominally encroached on to the highway. There is no work going on. There is room for two-way traffic flow with moderate care.

As I understand it there are no buses along Blackburn Road. This is the biggest inconvenience. I am disabled and regularly go to Blackburn on the bus in my capacity as a volunteer worker in the community.

Hopefully, as I write this a gang is on the way to fully repair the highway. Ian Kitchin via email

A POEM FOR DIANA

I wrote the attached poem in 1997 to mark the death of Diana, Princess of Wales and I think it is just as relevant today. Peter Jones via email TO Diana

It was meant to be a fairytale:

Our future king had found his queen.

You were to marry in St. Pauls;

The greatest sight the world had seen.

So beautiful, and nervous too

When you walked into our lives:

As you were guided down the aisle.

That poignant memory still survives.

We saw your lov ein motherhood:

Your pride in sons you did adore.

But sadly, slowly, marriage died;

The pressures howing more and more.

But through the years when you were ill

And desperately unhappy too,

You always thought of others first

In everything you’d say and do.

From deprived people to infirm,

You clearly cared for those in strife;

The charities and land-mine lame:

You inspired them all to value life.

Your beauty reigned for all to see.

You lit up lives both young and old.

Much more it wa sthan just skin deep:

Your inner beauty shone like gold.

But now that beauty is no more.

At ragic crash took you away.

No wall we have is memories,

And we will miss you everyday.

But everytime we see your face:

In photograph sorona screen,

No old-age wrinkles will wesee.

Your beauty will remain serene.

You will remain forever young,

And though the princess now departs

In deference to your dearest wish:

You will remain our Queen of Hearts.

©PeterJones1997

A FEW FACTS ON FAKE NEWS

AN early example of fake news is when one caveman deliberately misinformed another caveman about the whereabouts of the migrating bison in order to protect his own interests.

Fake news has now reached ‘mammoth’ proportions.

We hear in the mainstream media about the war of words and the threats that are being exchanged between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. We hear and see variations on the same news story that are repeated ad nauseam.

We hear that the UN Security Council has announced a new round of sanctions on North Korea, targeting its key exports.

In a rare show of solidarity, these sanctions have been approved by all the members of the Security Council.

So that’s OK, the pariah state is being brought to book for producing a nuclear warhead small enough to fit into an inter-continental ballistic missile and scaring us all to death.

The stakes couldn’t be higher and nuclear annihilation threatens. We are as close as we have been for years to a nuclear detonation, so we all need to be seeking the truth.

Fact: Although the United Nations consists of a total of 193 countries that make up the General Assembly, the UN Security Council consists of just 15 member nations and it has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

It is made up of five permanent members that were granted their permanent seat in 1945 and a further ten nations that are elected every two years.

No surprises who the five permanent members are – you are right, it’s (in alphabetical order) China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States of America.

Fact: On July 7, 2107, more than 120 nations of the United Nations General Assembly agreed an historic treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

The new treaty just has to be ratified by at least 50 nations in early October 2017 to make it illegal under international law to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess, stockpile, transfer, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons.

It also makes it illegal to assist or encourage anyone to engage in these activities. All the permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as some states that benefit from being under the umbrella of nuclear weapons states, have boycotted this treaty and it has hardly been reported in the UK.

Taking into account these facts it is perhaps understandable why President Donald Trump is incandescent with rage.

Perhaps his rage has in fact been caused, not by Kim Jong-un, but by the audacity of the United Nations General Assembly.

Perhaps Kim Jong-un is not as mad as he is made out to be and perhaps his actions have been opportunistic.

Time will tell. Joan West Great Harwood