In 1994 I was a new mum, expecting another baby and living in the West Yorkshire city of Wakefield. Exhausted from sleepless nights, I was largely unaware of current affairs. The brutal murder of 51 year old Wendy Speakes on 15th March, who lived about a hundred yards up the street, broke the spell. The whole city was shocked, but for any women that spent even a small part of the day alone at home, the tragedy would change their lives.
Attractive brown eyed blonde Wendy, had handed in her notice at work where she was an office receptionist. A for sale sign hung from the front of her end terraced house, a ten minute walk from the city centre. Her plan to relocate near to her newly-married daughter in Essex, was well and truly coming together. But within minutes of arriving home on Tuesday March 15th, 1994, Wendy was sexually assaulted and then savagely stabbed to death. Such was the terror that gripped the city, before long the faceless killer acquired the name "The Executioner of Wakefield". Despite being situated in the shadow of maximum security HMP Wakefield, local people believed it to be a safe and friendly place to live. As stunned as we were, the world keeps on turning. Yorkshire people are renowned for their grit and it was needed now more than ever. Yet when reaching home, an eerie reticence compelled us to look over our shoulders.
Wakefield is technically a city, but as it is in many smaller Yorkshire communities, neighbours stop to talk to one another, and a stranger was just a friend you hadn't met yet. Pit closures that decimated mining communities over the past decade had brought the people of Wakefield closer together, united by their struggles. Working men's clubs remained popular, members only establishments that offered live entertainment, Bingo, cut priced alcohol and Outings for children and the elderly. The immediate theory that Wendy's killer lived in the locality, shook the enduring sense of solidarity as nothing else had yet done.
From Ossett, Wendy took the three mile trip on the 126 bus, alighting at Wakefield bus station before making the ten minute walk and arriving home at roughly 6pm. Across the street, a worker at Green's printers spotted a man walking down the side of her house shortly after 6pm. In her slippers, Wendy was seen talking with the man at her front door before he made his way to the back of the house.Uncommonly for the time and where terraces often had only small yards, her house had a spacious conservatory at the rear. She had stood on her low brick wall and peered down the side, but when he reappeared at the front a minute later, she stepped back into the doorway. The man stood on the steps looking around and the printer turned and went back to work. Glancing from his window after about five more minutes, he saw the mystery man leaving Wendy's house, walking for a few yards before breaking into a sprint.
Wendy's house was next to a pub, but a driveway lay between them, giving access to the rear of her property.
Her absence from work then next day, Wendy's colleague Deborah Crossley and her father drove to check on her. Mr. Crossley found her lifeless body in the upstairs back bedroom. Her killer had bound her hands with black stockings, said to have been bought the previous Monday or Tuesday from the city's Superdrug store, before subjecting her to a sadistic rape. She was stabbed nine times in the back and shoulders and twice in the neck with a four inch knife, then died cowering at the end of the bed. A peculiarity that police hoped would smoke her attacker out lay in the tatty blue mules he had brought with him and forced her to wear. A pair of her black stilettos placed on the bedside table and the theft of another pair of hers from the cupboard, told a story of an unusual predilection with shoes and feet. The rest of the house was undisturbed. As the murderer made his escape, he took three things with him -Wendy's life, the knife he'd used to snuff it out and the missing black court shoes.
It was believed that the divorced mum of two was killed by a stalker. They must have known when he knocked on Wendy's door that evening, that an 18 stone rugby player wasn't due home. To the side of the house was a narrow driveway where the man had been seen and next to that "The Cliffe Tree" pub. Had he watched her from there? It had been daylight and authorities felt certain that somebody had seen something. Police appealed to the public using a reconstruction on national TV, hoping it might trigger their memories. Due to the fetishist features of the offence, experts warned this man would strike again, if he'd not already. Scrutinising Wendy's life, it was clear she wasn't living a secret life. That made it a very rare occurrence-a stranger murder.
The Cliffe Tree Pub next door to the crimescene.
A vague description suggested they should be looking for a man of 35-45 years, 5ft 8"- 5ft 10" tall with mid brown, receding hair, greyish at the edges. A partial fingerprint had been left on the inside door handle. The killer's blood and plenty of DNA samples at the scene raised hopes, but technology was limited thirty years ago. Time passed without a breakthrough. For Det. Supt. Rob Taylor who captured killer and kidnapper Michael Sams, this was the only unsolved of 40 cases he'd overseen. He vowed that he would not rest until Wendy's killer was behind bars.
People had started to lose hope that he'd ever be found, but then there was a knock on our door. When I opened it, I was a bit startled that a trio of police officers was standing there.
They were going door to door, asking every man to give a DNA sample. What had happened to Wendy could have happened to any one of us and it was good to see this was far from over. Wakefield C.I.D. officers eventually obtained samples from 3,000 men, yet still the years passed as if he'd just vanished into thin air. Wendy had been one of us. She brought her bread from the same shop, trod the same paths and we spoke a language. Going to catering college, I'd pass by her front door and with a heavy heart, imagine her standing there, seeing what was happening, one final time.
A drunken boast about drink driving in a Bradford pub some two years later, happened to be overheard by a police officer. The drunk was 35 year old Christopher Farrow, a painter and decorator from Cookridge, Leeds. Convicted of the drink driving offence, his DNA, fingerprints and blood type were added to the database. Despite monthly checks on the evidence, it was to be a further four years by the time Farrow became the prime suspect. When his fingerprints were matched with the partial print taken from the scene, police arrested Farrow at the house he shared with his pregnant partner and her kids. He initially denied any involvement, but faced with overwhelming evidence, was forced to finally confess.
Farrow's "bad day" meant that Wendy wouldn't get to see another day.
Farrow told police that he had a "bad day" which drove him to search for a victim. He stalked, planned and premeditated to murder a 24 year old woman who he had been hunting for several days. When she wouldn't open the door to him, his anger boiled over. A belief that he was entitled to have sex where and when he wanted, set him down the path, that would lead to Wendy's grisly murder. The prosecutor told how Farrow said to detectives:
"I just saw her get off the bus as I was getting off another bus"
"I had been.... thinking how crap my life was. My sex life...was absolute zero and I had a lot of upset and anger towards my girlfriend."
"I decided to do something that day to kill someone. I just wanted someone to suffer the same way I was feeling".
He also revealed he killed Wendy "as an afterthought". Having walked out of the bedroom to leave, he then realised she would be able to identify him.
His cold statement was: "I'm a rapist who killed, I'm not a murderer who raped."
Mr. Justice Moorland ordered that Farrow must serve a minimum of 18 years in prison, for the rape, sexual assault and murder of Wendy. He received an additional four year term for the attempted burglary of another woman in November. But the judge added he would recommend Farrow remains in custody for "very, very many years."
Wendy's daughter Tracey continues to campaign against Farrow's release from prison and has successfully kept him behind bars so far. Having served the minimum term laid out during sentencing, the case for his release is heard every two years by the parole board. During his 2018 hearing, the parole board recommend Farrow be moved to an open prison in preparation for release, but he was soon returned to a secure facility. Wendy's daughter Tracey Millington-Jones warned he is still a huge danger to society and that he should never be released:
She said:"They don't send people to an open prison if they don't want to release them at some point. The parole board report praised him for how well he had done and how his risk areas had been reduced."
"I think he is a dangerous, dangerous man. People need to be reminded of what he has done. Particularly people in Leeds and Wakefield if he is going to move back there."
"Farrow has never shown any remorse," she said. "He took a pair of my mother's shoes as a murder trophy and has never revealed where he has hidden them. He obviously has a thirst for more as he was out stalking and attempting to get women on their own in their homes within weeks of murdering my lovely mum. In my opinion, this man could have been the next Yorkshire ripper."
New parole board rules in the UK mean it's possible for public parole hearings to be held in some cases where it's in the interest of justice. The normal position is for parole hearings to remain in private. It's critical that witnesses are able to give their best evidence in an environment where open and honest discussion can take place. Each application will be considered, with representation sought from all parties to the case. The chair of the parole board will decide whether applications will be accepted or rejected. Those decisions are posted on the government website.
Ms Millington-Jones has attended every session during which the parole board has been discussing Farrow, the degree of risk he presents and ultimately, decide if he can be released. She submitted an application requesting that the 2023 parole hearing be held in public, due to the serious danger she maintains he presents to the public. Farrow's lawyers objected, claiming that it would prevent him from receiving a fair hearing. Farrow said he would refuse to give evidence in public and it was claimed that he "may experience unnecessary stress", should the case being held in public. Although they declared the concerns of Farrow and his lawyers insufficient to impede the process, the chair of the parole board determined the hearing would take place in private.
Retired Det. Chief Supt. Paul Johnston has expressed his concerns, about the possibility of a parole board decision that could see Farrow back in the community. He said "There has been no explanation, no apology, no remorse." While he's deeply concerned, he appreciates that the parole board have a difficult task. He remarked that:
"Decisions have to be based on risk- risk of the murderer re-offending in some way, shape or form. That risk is often judged by remorse that has been showed, by explanations as to why he did what he did. If I am right, there has been nothing of that nature from him over the last 18 years, I would have to ask what basis can someone say this is a changed man? What's to say this won't happen again?"
Police said from the time he was locked up, that he would have become a prolific serial killer had he not been caught. The former officer who had led the hunt for Barrow warns "I genuinely believe he poses a significant risk to women if he is released."
R.I.P. Wendy. Wakefield remembers you with love.
~
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Over the years, air travel has become the safest way to travel. You're much more likely to die on the road, driving to the airport. The tragic accidents in the skies have such an impact on us that the fear of flying remains a common tendency.
From time to time, it's discovered that these catastrophic events are the result of more nefarious intentions. Responsibility is attributed to the very same hands passengers routinely entrust with their lives. Actions like these and the devastating loss of life, shocks us to the core.
Belgium.1933~A fire, possibly started by a suicidal passenger attempting to commit suicide, caused the plane to crash killing all 15 aboard. This is thought to be the first act of sabotage on a commercial airliner.
Wilmington, N. Carolina, 1960. ~A despondent passenger detonated a dynamite bomb in his lap blowing the airliner out of the sky and killing 34 people. He was insured for $1million.
Boston, Mass. 1963~ With engines idling on the ground, a girl committed suicide by running into the No. 2 propeller.
San Ramon, Ca. 1964~ aircraft went into a steep dive and crashed while on a flight from Stockton to San Francisco,Ca. The last message which had to be obtained through laboratory analysis was "Skipper's shot. He's been shot. I was trying to help." Francisco Gonzales, a passenger, who had told several people he was going to kill himself shot both the pilot and co-pilot causing the plane to crash, killing all 44 aboard.
. . Tokyo, Japan,1982~The aircraft flew into shallow water after a struggle with a mentally ill pilot. During the approach, the captain, known to have mental problems, put the onboard engines into reverse in an attempt to destroy the aircraft while the co-pilot and flight engineer battled to restrain him. 24 of 174 aboard were killed.
Middletown Pennsylvania,1983 ~
A passenger committed suicide by opening right rear door and jumping out at 3,500 ft.
San Luis, Obispo, Ca.1987~ A fired USair employee, David Burke, after leaving a goodbye message to friends, shot both pilots. The aircraft went into a steep dive and crashed killing all 43 people aboard.
Finally , not technically suicide, but as good as..
Bandundu, Congo, 2010~A passenger brought onboard a crocodile hidden in a sports bag. The crocodile escaped, causing a panic among passengers who all ran to one end of the plane. This caused an imbalance in the aircraft which lost control and crashed.
For any sick puppies out there, like myself, from "last words":
1982. Tokyo. Japan.
Pilot engaged number 2 and 3 engine thrust reversers in flight. The first officer and flight engineer were able to partially regain control of the aircraft. Of the 174 people onboard, 24 perished.
1994. Morocco.
Pilot crashed intentionally by disengaging the autopilot and deliberately causing the plane to crash. 44 people lost their lives.
1997. Silk air.
The Indonesian Boeing 737 carried 104 souls to their r respective makers. During a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore, the plane plummeted vertically into a murky, fast flowing river in the island of Sumatra. Disintegrating upon impact, weeks spent searching with boats and divers, yielded just a handful of largely unidentifiable body parts. 93 wooden caskets shared a mass grave in a service that was essentially symbolic as most of the remains were lost. Indonesia lists the cause as "undetermined", but the United States NTSB argued the act was one of suicide. A private investigation later identified a flaw in the plane's rudder, however there's just one way a plane of that size can nosedive with such force. The event was a first in the perfect safety record of Silk air. Free falling from 35,000ft, at sometimes supersonic speed, parts of the wreckage were buried 15ft into the river bed. I think this one feels particularly tragic.
1999. Egyptair ~
Reserve pilot in command, Gameel Al-Batouti, while alone in the cockpit, disengaged the autopilot and flipped the plane, sending it rocketing towards the Atlantic taking the 217 onboard beneath the waves off Nantucket Island. Reciting the words "I rely on God" over and over, while approaching the speed of sound. Jets like these aren't exactly built for such velocity and will break up, sending anyone and anything not pinned down rattling around the cabin. You can get some idea from the final cvr. All 217 were killed.
.
2005. Tampa ~
Left alone by his flight instructor,15 year old Charles J Bishop made a break for freedom. Aiming it directly into the Bank of America just 3 months after the 9/11 fracas, inevitably judgement has been meted out. His mother suggested the acne treatment he was using, had led to him experiencing depression and suicidal ideation. It's more comprehensible than him representing Al+Qaeda and being labelled as "America's terrorist". Because drone warfare isn't history's finest example of terrorism. The only life lost was his own.
2010. Texas ~
Trailblazing protester Joe Stack posted his manifesto online, set fire to the house he had shared with his wife and steered a single engined light aircraft full of fuel into the Texas IRS offices. His daughter declared on national news, that her father was a "hero" for making the politicians take notice. I can't really question the ideology he advocated for. His destination that day didn't appear to incur much opposition either. Only one person went with him into the void.
2013. Mozambique airlines ~
The pilot intentionally crashed the aircraft into national parkland in Namibia, after the co-pilot was locked out of the cockpit. A total of 33 fatalities occurred.
2014. Malaysia Airlines ~
239 people disappeared, never to be seen again, when this Boeing 777 mysteriously vanished from the sights of aircraft control that day. Following an investigation by the Malaysian, it was asserted that the plane had "naturally" flown off course. Several possible explanations have been proposed, but the leading theory among experts is that the pilot, or the co-pilot committed an act of murder suicide.
2018. Seattle ~
Baggage handler, Richard Russell, helped himself to a Horizon Air Q400 passenger aircraft, performing aerial acrobatics while fending off the attention of responding military fighter jets. Announcing he had "never really thought about landing it" and done with his joyride, the plane crashed into Kenton island in the South Puget sound. Nobody hurt besides him.
2022. China Eastern airlines ~
Another spectacular vertical dive plunged 132 passengers and 9 crew members to their demise. Any pilot will confirm that a plane only does this, when a person manoeuvres it in such a way. It has to roll in order to adopt the position for a nosedive, that begins at a cruising altitude of 30,000ft and impacts with the world below in two minutes. At this speed it behaves much like a thermobaric rocket. A fierce fireball that engulfs it as it makes contact with the earth deep in the Guangxi mountains. Assisted in no small part by their failure to drop any fuel in advance. The rapid decent clearly initiated the fuselage breaking up. With debris on both sides of the mountain, it's likely to have broken in half. Hundreds of thousands of small pieces of said debris have been located, as deep as 20m beneath the surface, due to the intense force with which it fell.
You would have better odds of surviving jumping from this height. Believe it or not, an air stewardesses survived being sucked from the cabin of a plane with a gaping hole caused by an explosion. Depressurisation led to her 33,000ft fall. She spent a short time in a coma and broke both legs, but she lives!!
The rumour is that the co-pilot of the Chinese Boeing 737 was a high flyer, but the airline demoted him. Honour is highly valued in the Chinese culture and he supposedly wanted his revenge on them.
But the West can't survive without a consistent stream of Nike's and iPhones off the back of forced labour. Everyone will have forgotten all about it soon enough.
All hail the CCP and their bounty of suspiciously fresh human organs.
A few compilations in which there's an overview of intentional plane crashes:
In 1988, Libyan terrorists put a bomb on a Pan Am flight going from London to New York city. It exploded over Lockerbie in Scotland, while cruising at 31,000ft, breaking up into thousands of pieces. Aboard were passengers and crew totalling 259, all of whom died. 21 houses were destroyed and a further 11 people killed on the ground.
At the time, I was living close to the border of Turkey. That's really not the most comfortable environment, especially on your own. A quiet apparent Brit somewhere they shouldn't be.
It's one way to get killed.
Oooh! One more thing. Maybe you're familiar with those airport hotels? The ones bang nextdoor to it? Maybe don't bother, eh? I stayed in one when my flight was delayed. It's utterly terrifying!! Every few minutes, a plane comes right for you. They must skim the roof by inches. Even closing the curtains is futile because the room shakes and the noise is deafening. Yeah..no! Wouldn't recommend.
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Have you ever had one of those dreams where you know a terrible disaster is imminent, but you either can't tell anyone or they just won't listen? Well, this has been my life for the past twenty years or so. Yes, it's bizarre and no doubt, it sounds like I'm being overly dramatic. I probably wouldn't have believed me either.
Despite being marketed as a "safer" option than benzodiazepines for the treatment of insomnia, none of these medicines are intended for long term use. Prescribing medical practitioners are advised to limit their patient's use of the drug to a maximum of 14-28 days. All these medicines prevent the patient from obtaining complete sleep cycles, with their rhythm oscillating between slow-wave and REM phases of sleep. Such a deficit impedes regeneration of the immune system and the cognitive abilities of the brain to retain thoughts and memories, among other vital functions. Consequently, sleep obtained by taking such medicines, is little better than none at all.
Irrespective of prescribing guidelines advising doctors, countless patients take these drugs on a daily basis for years on end, having become hopelessly addicted after years of use. It's impossible that they can be getting anything but relief from withdrawal symptoms (which admittedly does feel good) and a psychosomatic effect , given the tolerance they must have acquired. Ironically, withdrawal symptoms can be so severe that benzodiazepines are needed to assist with tapering, reduction and the management of potential seizures. Incidences of over prescribing have continued increasing in frequency alongside a staggering popularity for recreational use.
Although the number of people addicted to Z drugs is significant, it's not the biggest concern users should be aware of. Pharmacies are legally obliged to clarify the many side effects that can befall patients. Warnings in the UK mainly consist of verbal advise from doctors and pharmacists, whilst in the US, black box warnings and many times the size of the packaging itself. They describe all the usual unpleasantness associated with hypnotics, but one specific peculiarity has been intentionally suppressed since its inception. One that everyone, whether they take the drug or not, needs to be keenly aware of.
It's impossible to suggest that I misused this drug in any way. I used it no more than two nights out of seven. Upon those occasions, I took a single 7.5mg pill, as prescribed, without any alcohol or any other possibly contra-indicated substance. To the best of my knowledge, I had experienced a fairly good night's sleep, waking feeling normal with nothing out of the ordinary to report. Then, one morning a friend of my then partner, knocked on my door. Thinking nothing of it, I opened the door and invited him inside. Before I could close the door behind him..BAM! He punched me square in the face. Now, I can take a punch, so my response was a combination of shock and confusion. I'm a very agreeable person. Definitely not the kind of person who has angered a queue avengers waiting for their turn to hit me.
Raised voices, accusations and denials ensued. Apparently, I had called his GF numerous times during the night, making increasingly severe threats. Calls made to someone I had never met, but yet even more baffling - how did I even know her phone number? I simply couldn't believe this was a behaviour I was capable of and still struggle to believe it to this day.
When he played me a recording of the calls, hearing my voice like that I was forced to admit my guilt. There was absolutely no denying it was my voice, but why or how it occurred was and still is, inconceivable.
Before too long I discovered from talking to friends, that these sort of bizarre incidents in conjunction with the memory loss, while under the influence of Zopiclone, were more common than we could have imagined. The common characteristics in all occasions were:
💊The use of a single 7.5mg dose of Zopiclone.
💊Behaviour out of character to the individual.
💊Absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the events.
During the ensuing years, obscure reports of violent and embarrassing stories involving both celebrities and everyday people, began to hit the headlines. Oprah Winfrey was mocked, when she blamed the drug for racist remarks she had made on Twitter. Also alleging to be affected by the medicine, was Chris Pratt who challenged WWE star Dave Bautista to a fight.
An airplane was forced to make an emergency landing, when one passenger who had used the drug to alleviate their fear of flying, physically attacked the cabin crew. Further accounts portrayed hotel rooms being destroyed, patients facing domestic violence charges and all manner of peculiarities.
Until you've personally experienced such an episode, I can understand how hard it would be to accept the deniability that is warranted in what has been dubbed "The Ambien defence". This is unlike other instances of amnesia such as that caused by alcohol, where it's possible that remnants of events can return in drips and drabs with time. It's not like the effects felt from benzodiazepines, barbiturates, anaesthetics, opiates, Ketamine or just getting messed up, or overindulging.
The truly terrifying business effectively steals your body for a period of time, to do absolutely anything with and you can never know. "Body snatching".
Manufacturers Merck were making obscene profits from their product, maintaining that it was a "very rare side effect". In truth, many people were either too embarrassed to report anything, or were simply unaware that anything had befallen them, besides a full night's sleep.
Initial reports that did become public, were considered funny due to how bizarre it sounded. As time progressed, the more problematic nature of sleep eating, having (potentially involuntary or forceful) sex whilst unconscious, sleep cooking and even sleep driving, offered an indication of where this was heading.
Then one day when I searched the internet for the latest news concerning the matter (which usually led with a selection of rehab and detox facilities), everything had changed. Suddenly, the first results the search engine churned out were for lawyers. Finally after nearly 2 decades, the other foot had fallen... a terrible disaster I had foreseen all those years before had come to pass. It was truly like some kind of horror movie. Patients using the drug had awoken to discover the person they loved and that loved and trusted them most in the world -their soul mate - was dead. Butchered by them in utterly heinous ways. Scientists had investigated this "very rare side effect" and discovered that everything that we had been saying was true. Thus it's now become an accepted alibi in defence of crimes, where it could be proven the phenomenon was in effect.
However, the important thing to keep in mind is that whether a court of law accepts this alibi or not, that person still has to live each day for the remainder of their life, imagining that terror and suffering they inflicted upon their trusting partner. To my mind, such a sentence is a fate worse than death.
Whether you take Zopiclone, Zolpidem or another nonbenzodiazepine, consider whether it's really a gamble you're prepared to take. This pill could lead you into a nightmare world from which there could be no waking up.
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In the UK we are fortunate enough to have important legislation, that's based on one overarching principle;
Access to safe, drinkable water is critical for the sustenance of human life. This might not sound like much. If you think it doesn’t apply to you, YOU’RE WRONG!
Those living without access to clean, safe, potable water no longer belong to third world nations of the kind we probably imagine. Take a closer look at this most vital of necessities that we had assumed was, and always will be plentiful and flowing freely… that’s not quite as certain as it might once have seemed.
All Brits pay water charges. But even if those go unpaid, no home can be deprived of the water supply while it’s inhabitants draw breath. It’s not like there’s any other option and you can just pop down to the canal, take a bath, fill up a jerry can and not end up sick.
With an extensive network of purification plants, sewerage systems and delivery pipes, every home can be reached. That's definitely not something people of the world universally enjoy. For some years, I lived in a small village in southern Europe where nearly everybody relied upon a few communal taps . During summer months, water only flowed from the taps for a few hours each day. A queue would grow at the tap as 4pm drew near each afternoon, of villagers bearing buckets, jerry cans, cheese tins and other assorted containers. After filling them, they could then flush toilets, bathe, cook and clean. Anything more than a single square of toilet paper would completely block the pipes, so a small bin (usually a repurposed cheese tin) sat at the side of every toilet, into which all disposables were placed.
Recently all the lead pipes in the U.K. received an upgrade. They can’t be replaced without our streets collapsing. After so long, they have just a part of the landscape we live in.
How-to resolve this problem when aging pipes are increasingly presenting a potential hazard to the health of consumers. Every lead pipe in the U.K. has had safe, new plastic piping threaded through it, providing a public health solution for the ages to come.
There exists an almost mythical belief that the superior quality and health benefits of bottled water cannot be unequalled.
Simply put, there's no such thing as clean bottled water, whether it’s the impurities inside the bottle tainting it, the unfathomable mark-up in price for something being stolen from a finite source, intended to support life within its natural vicinity, the obscene environmental impact, or the knock on effect that the industry imposes on the less fortunate and the vulnerable; if you could truly see the dirty tricks and human cost floating around inside that squidgy bottle that screams as clear as your conscience, nobody would ever give bottles of water a second glance, let alone pay for it.
Having had one or two health issues, I made a resolution to drink more water. Doctors had repeatedly advised my grandmother drink water. Not Tea, Coffee, Juice, Cordial or anything purporting to contain water. Something of which I hadn't been aware was that certain medicines draw water from the body to function properly. So drinking water with nothing added to it really is quite important.
Time and again, I see people screw up their face at the prospect of actually drinking the water flowing from the tap in their kitchen. Now, I've lived in places where foreign visitors are advised against drinking the local water... directions that serve local businesses quite nicely, thank-you very much and reduces demand on a water supply that could only be available for an hour or two each day.
Of course, there are certain places where under no circumstances should you ever drink the tap water (This includes ice made from that water too).
💥Facts💥 1 in 3 people worldwide lack access to safe, potable water. 700 children (under 5 years) die every day from diarrhoea linked to inadequate sanitation and hygiene. Try to imagine a little child s*itting liquid, then blood, then dying and the agonies that entails. Cholera can end a life in just a few hours time. Polio, Dysentery, Hepatitis A and Typhoid Fever are some of the delightful treats in store for 1/10 humans today. Often, parents faced the impossible choice of their children drinking water containing faecal matter from animals and humans, or simply going without. It doesn't hurt for holidaymakers to cough-up for bottles of drinking water during their two week holiday. People frequently experience stomach problems despite the local water sources being perfectly fine, with this solely resulting from their not being accustomed to the levels of minerals etc therein. However, I have spoken with people living in some of the most devestatingly beautiful places on the planet, who have described drinking directly from the nearest river or stream; the very same one into which flows raw sewerage. Undoubtedly, the critical difference when considering the impact of tainted water on human life is poverty. For those of us lucky enough to enjoy the benefit of industry controls, I guess there are a number of reasons why a large glass of H²0 from their local supply doesn't exactly fill them with enthusiasm.
Many claim that they taste or smell something unsavoury in their water.
They might feel that a bottle of water is safer or better
They could find bottles of water more convenient
They might have previously detected a metallic taste, smell or an unusual colour in the water.
Yet there are people who still complain about “undrinkable” water. A small amount of chlorine added at the source, quickly becomes nothing more than a residual amount. And fluoride hysteria forgets the far larger presence naturally occuring in the earth. That which actually reaches them is nothing in comparison. Regulatory bodies inspect records, but more importantly, tested repeatedly at the source, as it leaves the supplier and at the tap, those results are there for everyone to see by right.
Variations in taste are either due to changes in equipment, distance from the source. Chilling and allowing a jug of this water to stand is usually sufficient although at no point is it ever a risk to health. The biggest causes of noticeable variations in taste, are due to consumers moving between places supplied by different sources, often unknowingly. But also, the effect of other factors, such as smoking, diet, health, dehydration, other drinks such as tea, coffee and carbonated beverages, on the function of the taste buds. The impact of which, I could never have comprehended a couple of years before.
The biggest complaint is about so-called “hard" water. Nothing more than magnesium and calcium from the rocks in the land, a crucial feature that has contributed to natural filtration for centuries. Something, endangering only the life of the kettle, required to eliminate the issue completely. What petty and entitled whingers such privilege has made of us.
Being as I was paying for it anyway, I was going to drink what we lovingly describe using its pet name; council pop. The results were astonishing. Almost every aspect of my health improved rapidly. Suddenly people would comment on the clarity of my eyes and I was spending less time in the consulting room. As time went on, I reacquired the use of my taste buds to the point where I could no longer use metal cutlery as that’s all I could taste. Even my thinking became clearer.
As a child, I recall my father telling me “it’s the things you CAN’T see in water, you need to worry about. Try taking a bottle of water and evaporating it in a regular saucepan. Do the same thing with the same quantity of tap water and there’s a visible result. So, that can’t bode well.
I would see outraged comments about the developing world and the need for untainted water on social media. Scrolling to the bottom, it’s the work of the bottled water industry. Something just doesn’t add up. Being familiar with the value of investment in infrastructure, the industry is nothing but a thief, sneaking in, draining the reserve intended for the local inhabitants, making a horrible mess, selling it back to them with a lot of empty promises and escaping before the damage can be assessed.
Meanwhile, there are no requirements for the people getting fat from the dirty water tricks, to disclose the ingredients of their product either on the bottle or otherwise. Using the old name change switcheroo, it was one of those cases where you know something isn’t quite as it seems. But you can’t work out it is and somehow there’s a funny stink. Then you spot the Nestlé brand. Bingo! A leopard doesn’t change it’s spots. Being familiar with their track record, gave me an idea of what to look for. It’s not their self interest to GIVE their product away. But this is the same players who got the third world hooked on baby formula. So there’s always something being concealed, usually at the expense of someone with no voice.
Let’s start at the source. Nestlé are known for setting up shop in economically depressed areas with lax water laws. They often pay nominal charges, like the municipal extraction fee of $200 they paid in Flint, Michigan. They notoriously sold $343 million worth of product, leaving the area’s supply contaminated and genuinely undrinkable. A single plant produces 3.5 million bottles a day, eating up vast amounts of a dwindling energy supply and pumping great plumes of toxic gases into the sky. It may sound familiar. Flint is among the most deprived communities in North America. This is a routine business plan for one of the most despised, monopolies in the world.
But don’t imagine choosing another brand eliminates this factor. For example big players Danonê buying up Evian was no accident. People have such a vast exposure to branded products, their trust is easily abused in the knowledge, the majority either don’t care, don’t want to know, don’t have the time or energy to find out or have no option. Companies don’t spend billions on advertising because it doesn’t work. The very fact that someone maintains they’re not influenced by it indicates it’s done the intended job. You’re supposed to want it without knowing why. Selling a product for exorbitant profit depends on nobody finding out the true cost.
Fertilizers, pesticides and nitrates, even arsenic leeches into the water table. Their ridiculous claims of technologies that have no value at this scale, such as reverse osmosis and distillation are laughable. But even if they could (or would) use large scale purification processes, there’s the other effects on the environment too. It’s impossible to miss the great chimneys that release the very gases we have worked so hard to eliminate in a bid for our very survival. And when the argument of chemicals from the plastic bottles leeching into the bottles arises, notice how “scientists” (have a guess who’s paying for this study), say that they’re stable unless temperatures fluctuate. Anyone who has ever worked in a warehouse will be familiar with the searing heat during the day and freezing nights. That’s without accounting for seasonal and regional variations.
While our waterways yield the results of the industrial waste spilling out. Killing fish, creating mutations like spinal curvatures and even sex changes. If it’s doing that to fish, how long before it reaches us? Remember the old canary in the coal mine? When it keels over and drops to the floor, you don’t have long.
But there’s even greater profit to be found in the export market. Nestlé started selling water in Lahore, Pakistan in 1998. Locals could still turn on a tap and get a clean glass of water. Fast forward 20 years and instead of asking to buy a bottle of water, they are asking for a bottle of Nestlé. Infrastructure has broken down and there is no longer any choice. Suspicion leaks out occasionally, but biased “experts" coincidentally always appear with some way to subdue the issue if only for sufficient time for people to lose interest.
You can’t water parched arable farmland with a bottle of Nestlé. Neither does it treat raw sewerage and industrial effluent from some of the countries with the fastest booming economies in the world, built largely at the expense of the desperate poverty right next to it. The textile industry is notorious for the disastrous ethical cost to those who are worst off.
The pandemic has caused panic and chaos on a global scale, but 3,575,000 die annually due to lack of access to untainted water. If we had to choose between giving our children poisoned water or nothing, would it be allowed to continue?
Nestlé have publically announced that safe water isn’t a human right. By falling for their dirty bag of tricks, and filling their bulging pockets, we’re silencing.
A whole range of diseases are found in untreated water around the world, from Malaria, Cholera, Hepatitis A and Amoebic dysentery to parasitic infections, Trachoma, the majority of which affect children. In countries battling epidemic levels of HIV/AIDS, it’s the last thing you need with a weak immune system.
With the market for export bottled water growing, the question of finding an uncontaminated source is getting closer to home everyday. Isn’t it time we stopped kidding ourselves and allowing what is ours to be taken out of greed?
Bottled water is no solution for this problem. It’s just a band aid at best. But, where it detracts pressure from those responsible for provision and upkeep of crucial infrastructure, the only humane resolution, it’s actively worsening matters. There’s nothing that could convince me that replacing the linguistics for a basic element required for life, can be acceptable.
This is a much more pressing public health issue than recent events. Legislation, planning and the development for the essential works required, doesn’t happen overnight.
The notion of bottles of water being “convenient” is nonsensical, when it can be as simple as the touch of a button. And flavoured waters are nothing more than a tool to add to the blood money on the hands of big water.
In San Bernardino, California, Nestlé pays $524 annually to extract 30 million gallons of water, come fire or drought. How does that add up in anyone’s mathematics? If those in power allow such a trade off, even providing generous tax breaks, you can guarantee something is not being said. Ask the people of Mecosta, Michigan and neighbouring Evart about the cost of having Nestlé come in and pump your water. Years of wrangling, secret deals and desperate fundraising, by those with the least to give and the most to lose, for an idea of dirty water tricks.
Nestlé will quickly deny any involvement in profiteering from public scandals such as those faced by Flint. But years of dependence on bottled water by citizens, hasn’t hurt their business. Once they’re done abusing the public’s lack of recognition that this resource is theirs, they’ll be onto the next opportunity. Selling a product for 10,000 times the price is grotesque. There’s more to it than simply what’s needed to drink. Simply bathing in tainted water can be extremely dangerous. There’s absolutely no way they are capable of removing some of the chemical contaminants, especially. There are no requirements for bottled water to reveal the contents. A single plant pays $200 producing 3.5 million bottles a day. Filling the ocean with plastic, pumping toxic gases in the sky. fertilizers, pesticides and nitrates, even arsenic, leeches into the water table. These resources are finite.
In Lahore- Pakistan, 20 years ago, they could get a glass of clean water from a tap. Now they ask to buy a bottle of Nestlé . It’s not even called water anymore. And in this time, infrastructure has broken down. You can’t water a farm with a bottle of Nestlé.
I only know this because we have very tight restrictions on tap water in the UK. Tests are mandatory at multiple points and times- publically available with suppliers being accountable. I literally weep, when I look to the United States, a nation admired for the virtues of justice and public health. The ease with which this vital resource, for the wellbeing of themselves and future generations, is dismissed as a priority. Simply because there is an all prevailing culture of entrusting corporations in matters that cannot ethically be a question of profitability. Until it’s too late and everything goes horribly wrong. Revealing no protections for the citizens. Only a series of corrupt decisions and shady deals by those responsible for “guard duty”
When they turn up pumping your water supply, maybe the shine of bottled water won’t seem so attractive. If the money spent on bottled water was in the right hands, everyone could have access to the highest standards of clean, life saving water. What has the world come to, that the most basic needs are sold to corporate predators?
How long before the suffocating man gasps “give me some Nestlé?
I brought a bottle of water over 5 years ago, refilled it from the tap in the kitchen until something better came along. It’s filthy!
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2nd October 2024.
Update.
Last week this was published in SciTechDaily. What the heck is wrong with people? Can nobody think beyond their own immediate needs? No wonder this planet is purging itself of the parasitic disease that's steadily but surely killing it as if they had planned it all.
This is stuff you learn before the age of 10 as a rule-evaporation tests etc. In the UK -now this could have a lot to do with it- there's a tendency to look at social media and assume anything that's said applies to you, forgetting it's a global affair. Just as Britain has NEVER had vaccine mandates, we have some of the most rigid controls and regulations regarding the distribution storage, treatment of water and processing of water, whereas bottled water, (frequently precisely the same stuff) has none at all. All the road works and temporary traffic lights causing mayhem nationwide? That's your waterboard.
Our water supplies and sewerage systems are so ancient that they're part of the landscape. To remove them could lead to subsidence, pot holes,crevices and chasms appearing.. so instead of replacing lead piping, every water pipe has had durable plastic piping threaded through it manually. If you're unhappy with the water you've paid for, , just get onto the computer via their website or the old fashioned way.. give them a call! Then again, I suppose they would need to find something else to moan about 😠
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