Ballie Traveller Report: Coronavirus, BBC TV, Pope Francis & Other News

Ballie Traveller Report : Is the Coronavirus being incubated in luxurious cruising Petri dishes?

Spotted an interesting BBC report on whether cruise ships are simply floating Petri dishes.
As deaths from the virus continue to soar way past a thousand, the cruise ship communities are having a tough time. The much-reported liner, the Diamond Princess now has 174 positive cases of the virus and will remain locked up for some time. It’s a bit rough when you’ve splashed out with a chunk of your retirement booty on a once in a lifetime cruise.
However, last week, another ship was refused entry by Japan, the Philippines, Guam and Taiwan. It ended up in Cambodia. A sort of free extended holiday cruise for the passengers, with a few extra countries thrown in for good measure.
Ten crew members of the Diamond Princess are amongst those infected, which brings to mind that whenever there is a bug doing the rounds on board ship, there is always the risk of onward transmission to the next group of passengers.

Ballie Traveller Report: BBC TV on Subscription or not?

There is currently much debate about whether the UK TV licence should be scrapped.
Yes, maybe for the over 75’s, yes, but for the rest maybe not.
Having lived in three countries that offer state TV, (and the compulsory licence that goes with it), the BBC is in a class of its own. Content on the four channels is generally good and there is a huge choice on their iPlayer catch-up service, despite the bleating of the naysayers. Switch to Amazon Prime or Netflix is the usual cry. To my knowledge, no one was ever able to follow the news, weather, or even whether the Coronavirus was lurking just up the street on Netflix or Amazon.
The downside is that it is deemed to be a criminal offence if you don’t pay. Come on. This is England in the 21st century. Debt is no longer a criminal offence and that’s precisely what it would be if the licence went unpaid. Simply debt.

Ballie Traveller Report: Pope Francis digs in his heels

Due to a shortage of priests in the Amazon basin, local Bishops have backed the idea of the church relenting and allowing the ordaining of married men as priests. This would alleviate the shortage.
Catholic priests are expected to practice celibacy once they are ordained, which is seen as marriage to god. The conservatives in the church have come out vehemently against the idea, believing that it will be the thin end of the wedge to scrapping celibacy worldwide.
Pope Francis has backed them up by having the final word and putting an end to the debate.
He believes the way forward in addressing the problem is by persuading potential missionaries to choose the Amazon. Time will tell.

Ballie Traveller Report: Oops. Someone opened the door.

Last week we had a body panel fall off a Mango airlines flight from Cape Town.
This week, we have the sentencing of Chloe Haines for two years, for attempting to open the door of a Jet2 flight from Stanstead airport, heading to Turkey.
The other passengers were more than a little perturbed by her action which apparently was due to a cocktail of medication and alcohol, which caused her to blackout and lose it somewhat. “I have no recollection of the event”. Always a good line in a sticky situation.
The total cost to Jet2 for the little escapade. A mere, £86,000.
Apparently, 2 RAF jets were scrambled to escort the plane back to Stanstead. I’m not sure what their purpose was or what they would have done had a stream of bodies evacuated the aircraft in mid-air. No doubt there was a cost to the RAF too.

Ballie Traveller Report: New blow for smokers.

Just when smokers have become used to being relegated to the smoking area, usually located somewhere near the back by the dustbins. It’s always a good idea to stretch the legs and clear the mind, but not if you have to pay for it.
A Spanish court has ruled in favour of an energy company, Galp, who has been deducting wages for the time spent away from their workstations since September 2019.
Galp also deducts wages for offsite coffee breaks and breakfast between colleagues.
The case was instituted against Galp by the employee’s trade union, who has subsequently indicated that they will appeal the verdict.
The irony is that the law was changed to force employers to monitor attendance at the request of the union. Employees maintained that they were being exploited.

Definitely a case of coming back to bite you.
This has been the latest Ballie Traveller Report including all the latest news about Coronavirus, BBC TV, Pope Francis, Mango airlines, the Galp case, etc. Stay tuned for more upcoming news.