– ‘Ladies & gentlemen’ scrapped to make London Tube announcements gender neutral:
The order follows months of campaigning by LGBTQ activists, who appealed to London Mayor Sadiq Khan to change the language used by train and bus drivers, which they described as “polite but really belonging to yesterday,” according to the Evening Standard.
The Transport for London (TfL) rule book used to state: “When using the Public Address (PA) system, you must start all service information announcements with ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ except for routine announcements such as ‘mind the gap’ and ‘stand clear of the doors.’”
Now staff will use terms such as “good morning everyone.” All new pre-recorded announcements are also set to be changed to new phrases.
TfL’s customer strategy boss, Mark Evers, said they want “everyone to feel welcome on our transport network,” adding “we have reviewed the language that we use in announcements and elsewhere and will make sure that it is fully inclusive, reflecting the great diversity of London.”
The move comes after Green Party equalities spokesperson Aimee Challenor was left “humiliated” after she was told she “didn’t sound like a Miss” during a telephone call to TfL’s Oyster helpline.
READ MORE: Unisex toilets planned for Glasgow primary schools to support LGBT pupils
Challenor, 19, welcomed the change, saying the terms “hello everyone” or “all passengers for…” would be more appropriate.
“People are saying it’s such a small thing and ‘get a life.’ It’s these little things which can make people’s lives better.
“London is a city I love travelling through, it’s diverse. But hearing these announcements – we are living in the 21st century, not the 19th.”
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-13/google-wins-back-tax-case-in-france/8704516
Google avoids paying $1.64b in back taxes after winning French court case
Trace: Witness saw paedophile priest covered in blood near cold case murder victim Maria James’ house.
A priest who sexually abused the son of cold case murder victim Maria James was seen covered in blood on the day of her murder, metres from the crime scene.
The priest — identified as Father Anthony Bongiorno — had blood on his face and arm as he ran into St Mary’s Parish Thornbury, roughly 50 metres from the Melbourne bookshop and home where Maria was stabbed 68 times in 1980.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-28/trace-priest-seen-covered-in-blood-near-maria-james-crime-scene/8652936
Trace: Police knew of DNA bungle in Maria James murder case for three months before family told.
Police say they waited three months to tell the family of murder victim Maria James they had bungled crucial DNA information in their mother’s cold case.
The DNA had been used to rule out a series of suspects in the 37-year-old case, including paedophile priest Father Anthony Bongiorno.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-13/trace-maria-james-case-victoria-police-dna-bungle-embarrassing/8703978
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfkH7f3FNFw
NASA Warns of Space Weather Chaos-Massive Explosion on the Moon-Catastrophic Events Sweep the Globe
Lots of floods i did not hear about?
https://www.facebook.com/theboltreport/videos/467006750324126/
BOLT: All our pain has come from global warming policies, not global warming itself.
https://theoldcontinent.eu/dutch-keys/
Experiment: Dutch prisoners get keys to their own cells, despite wardens saying it increases risks
What could go wrong?