DaveR

"I find it very offensive....etc., etc." Widely held concerns are not necessarily valid. In fact they are often stupid and ill-informed, and widely held simply because they chime with widely held prejudices, superstitions and the like. That offends me (intellectually) but I am evidently made of sterner stuff, because I manage to shrug it off. I'm afraid you will need to develop a rather thicker skin if you are going to invite people to join a campaign based on such a shaky premise - you can expect some challenge.

"DaveR Objections are based on a range of issues and I see you have choosen not to address this." Correct. I don't have a view on the other grounds for objection. I see that you did not choose to address them in your original post either, and then only did so when you got called out for your scientific illiteracy and/or deceptive scaremongering tactics. If you want to encourage people to oppose on those other grounds, go ahead.

Let's be clear - there is no evidence that mobile phones or radiation from masts is damaging to health for adults or children. The most that can be said is that more research could be done, but that can be said about any technology or other phenomenon that is comparatively new. There similarly is no evidence that 4G is different from 3G in this respect. There are lots of reports out there, but this is the most recent one produced by the body specifically tasked in the UK to report on the issue: http://www.mthr.org.uk/documents/MTHRreport2012.pdf Any objections to the planning application based on purported health risks should be ignored - to do otherwise would expose the planning authority to a legal challenge based on irrationality/unreasonableness. Edited to add - and James Barber (usually a voice of something approximating reason) should disqualify himself from any involvement on this one.

In recent years we have been to Cascais and Sao Martinho do Porto and had fantastic holidays both times. I can't recommend resorts but there are lots of apartment rentals in fairly small (ie not high rise) modern developments with pools, gardens, tennis etc. and much cheaper than Martinhal!

How about f&ck off Bran, you tw$t. Nothing passive about that.

For retailers, appliances online, as above, and also co-op electrical. For brands, Miele are bombproof but very expensive, Bosch/Siemens (who are the same company for white goods) are good, and I recently bought a Samsung fridge-freezer which is great so far.

"I said I have a view of what the data may show but you will see that I make it clear it's a wait and see scenario because we don't know." = "So I expect the data to not be convincing in boroughs where accident rates were average. I fully expect there to be no significant change or benefit." not

I'm definitely not an expert, but I think the keeping in touch days are a bit of a red herring - they have to be agreed between you and the employer, and their legal purpose is to avoid triggering the end of your maternity leave by going into work for a few days. The real question appears to be whether you can carry on self-employment whilst receiving SMP - the answer appears to be 'yes' - see 3.12 on the linked doc https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance/maternity-benefits-technical-guidance

"You are speaking to someone with a Phd in psychology here btw ;)." But no experience or qualifications in the relevant field, and yet somehow able to confidently predict what the data will show in due course. Impressive. BTW, I don't have any personal interpretation of the data because, from my own professional life, I understand the difference in relative worth between a lay and professional opinion. The only real issue here is whether there is credible evidence that the 20mph zones are a reasonable road safety measure. Like anything new, there's no guarantee, and anybody can speculate about reasons why it might not work, but it's glaringly obvious that from a safety perspective it's not unreasonable. From a 'toot toot' Mr Toad perspective, there may be a different view, but I'm not really interested in that. Edited to answer the question: "why you felt the need to post an academic paper on the nature of data and bias" - because I was taking the p!ss

"Really Otta, libel? Not even close" Are you familiar with the concept of innuendo meaning? What do you think the average reader would understand you to be saying about the competence and/or character of the head in your first post?

"The lack of evidence of migration to surrounding areas/ roads shows how traffic calming in the right places is effective, and kind of proves the lack of need of 20 mph blanket limits. There as yet is no data for the impact of a blanket 20 mph policy as (I've pointed out above) the first borough to introduce that did it in 2013/14 and tfl has published no data for 2014 yet. So I expect the data to not be convincing in boroughs where accident rates were average. I fully expect there to be no significant change or benefit. I would like to see the cost of enforcement too. I'm willing to bet it's prohibitive." Here is some more research you may find informative: http://psy2.ucsd.edu/~mckenzie/nickersonConfirmationBias.pdf "Confirmation bias, as the term is typically used in the psychological literature, connotes the seeking or interpreting of evidence in ways that are partial to existing beliefs, expectations, or a hypothesis in hand"

Entirely unsurprisingly, there is research commissioned by TFL specifically addressing the impact on road safety of 20mph zones. You can find it here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/20-mph-zones-and-road-safety-in-london.pdf I'm sure some of the forum's amateur statisticians will crawl over it and identify where the (professional) statisticians have got it wrong. Nevertheless, worth reporting the conclusions on the effectiveness specifically of London 20mph zones: The main conclusions are: ? On average, between 1991 and 2006, there has been a 1.7% decline in all casualties each year on London?s roads. ? Historically, 20 mph zones in London have reduced overall casualties within zones by 42% above this background decline. ? In 20 mph zones there have been reductions for all casualty groups and severities. ? In recent years, the effectiveness of 20 mph zones appears to have decreased, but those implemented between 2000 and 2006 still reduced casualties by 23% compared with areas outside 20 mph zones. ? There was no evidence of significant migration of collisions or casualties to areas adjacent to 20 mph zones. ? For areas with high casualty histories, the benefits of implementing a 20 mph zone are greater than the costs of implementation. However, in areas with low casualty histories, building costs are greater than the value of preventing casualties.

"Non ci credo" (che si puo mangiare questa vergogna)

In many countries, school entry is conditional on a child having completed a defined course of vaccination. A sensible policy which IMHO should be introduced in the UK.

"Interestingly my car insurance with LV has actually gone down by ?3 over the last 6 years although the car and risk has stayed the same. And I do still check every year but no-one could match their quote. So not every company rips off its previous customers" This is increasingly the case with motor insurers because so many of them got burned so badly during 2008 - 2012, when price comparison sites pushed premiums down and claims farmers/whiplash/fraud pushed claims costs through the roof. As a result they got much smarter with their data crunching and now try very hard to retain customers who fit the lowest risk profile.

It's not just insurance companies. Every year I have the same conversation with a certain well-known breakdown/recovery organisation: "I'm not going to renew when as a new joiner it would cost me ?x less" "Let me see what we can do......we can offer you a discount of ?(x-10)" "Can you also thrown in some additional benefit for free?" "Sure" "OK, you got me" Ditto for ISP, mobile phone co., etc.

I didn't know Marie's cafe was open in the evenings. I remember about twenty years ago working nearby and going there for lunch pretty much every day for a month. They always did one curry, one stir fry dish and one noodle dish every lunch time, and once a week I'd mix it up and have bacon egg and chips instead. Happy days. PS I think it's on Lower Marsh, not the Cut.

The tribe thing is a bit of a red herring IMHO. A tribe in this context is just a group whose lifestyle is more defined and overt than others. And everyone's prone to lifestyle-ing, to a greater or lesser extent - imagine how tiring it would be to have to actually decide exactly what you, as a unique individual, wants/thinks/feels about absolutely everything. It used to be a source of endless amusement to me that every single Saab owner thought they were a free-thinking individualist. Anyway, hipsters. They are not likely to punch me in the face, or do anything more generally anti-social, so they can carry on as far as I'm concerned, whoever they are. Having a pop at them for looking silly misses the point somewhat (plus Goths have perpetual dibs on the most ridiculous look ever), and anybody who thinks that a lack of explicit political engagement is a crushing indictment of a style collective because: "what we need now more than ever is a fight for social and political change." seriously needs a hot cup of tea and a long lie down (sorry EP, but it's true). And if nice food and good beer are somehow a product, directly or otherwise, of the hipster thing, excellent - more of that please.

"I like the occasional lager (ice cold on a hot day - perfect), but love the variety of craft and real ales. It's just good to have so much genuine variety. Most of the mass market largers just taste the same - pretty fizzy and bland." I'm with this, pretty much word for word. As a teenager always drank ale (although then we called it bitter) because it was good beer and everybody did. Came to London and almost cried at how terrible the beer was everywhere, and started drinking Guinness. The last five years or so have been great for proper beer, and I like going to places like the Rake and trying weird and wonderful stuff, but I'm essentially happiest with a decent pint of bitter. Although, having said that, I am getting mildly addicted to London Porter (esp from Redemption Brewery) and German dark wheat beer - all those years drinking Guinness I expect.

Masters Super Fish is a cracking fish and chip shop on Waterloo Road, Anchor and Hope on the Cut, or the tapas place also on the Cut (can't remember the name) Edited to add - Meson Don Felipe is the name.

Average price of a pint in London = ?3.79 (Sept 2014) http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/General-News/Good-Pub-Guide-2015-Regional-breakdown-of-beer-prices

I like the Rake, but currently drinking more frequently in the Old Red Cow in Smithfield, which has a great selection of cask and keg, and is the closest pub to work that's not a City hell-hole. I still have a psychological block about paying more than a fiver a pint (or at least much more than a fiver), and most of the really expensive stuff is way over strength IPA which I don't like anyway.

"Those jumpers that have the top of a shirt sown into them, to make it look like the wearer has a shirt on under the jumper" I find these bewildering rather than rage-inducing. Is anybody willing to own up to actually having worn such an absurdity?

Reading between the lines, I guess the RMT have been trying to persuade LU to reinstate the guy pending an ET ruling, as its pretty clear there hasn't already been one. The argument about the machine not working for people with diabetes is a weak one though - my understanding is that this issue was recognised with some types of test kits years ago and different technology adopted.

Also today - the GMB found to have unlawfully discriminated against one of their members on the basis of his left wing socialist views. From the Times: The bizarre chain of events began on November 30, 2011, when Keith Henderson, 29, a GMB worker, led a picket line outside parliament on the day of prime minister?s questions. He wrote an article that appeared in two national newspapers asking Labour MPs not to cross the picket line and to stand in solidarity with union members in their action against public sector pension cuts. His comradely call to arms ?embarrassed? Mr Miliband after the Labour leader was mocked by David Cameron in their weekly joust in the Commons. Mr Miliband?s office phoned Paul Kenny, the GMB general secretary, to convey the Labour leader?s ?displeasure?...... ?That was the start of the discrimination I received from the union,? he claimed. Mr Henderson was sacked from the union after a long-running dispute with his superiors. The report that led to his dismissal was compiled by Warren Kenny, son of the GMB chief and a senior organiser at the union. Mr Henderson lost his claim for unfair dismissal and unjustified discipline by the union. However, the tribunal judge did find that he had been discriminated against because of his left-wing beliefs. Judge Nigel Mahoney found that ?left-wing democratic socialism is a philosophical belief for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010?.