Marmora Man

Should we be optimistic that Kofi Annan's sponsored cease fire has taken a fragile hold today or take a more cynical view that President Assad will use the pause to refresh and repair his dictatorship? I fear that there will no clear cut end to the Syrian crisis until Assad is ousted and that, even tben, the diverse and incoherent opposition is unlikely to form a stable post Assad administration and that we will see that amazing country become another "failed state" replicating the horrors of Lebanon in the 80's & 90's. UN armed intervention is highly improbable and any other less internationally sanctioned intervention would only inflame the political / religious / terrorist divide in an unstable part of the world. It is a problem that does not lend itself to simple solutions but is, to my mind, a truly pressing and urgent issue for world leaders to address. I have no solutions to offer beyond a hope that UN staff can enter to the country to administer and monitor the ceasefire while world leaders negotiate / impose a stand down of the Assad regime and sponsor some form of stability from which a relatively balanced, honest and stable government can emerge.

For info: Lansley Letters

I bought a bunch of fresh carrots with all their green tops. Stored them in a veg box in a cool, but not cold, utility room. A day later the tops were limp and horrid - while the carrots were turning black and were as limp as the green tops. What am I doing wrong? I don't like to store veg in the fridge.

buggie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I'd forgotten about this thread, saw Absent > Friends last w/e and loved it - fantastic cast > performances and appropriately for the Harold > Pinter Theatre some bottom clenching pauses!! > > Annoyingly it's into it's final week now so > possible too late to recommend, but if you do get > a chance go. > > MM - any idea how long Noises Off is running for? > Saw it in the West End about 10yrs ago but would > love to take Mr Buggie who hasn't seen it & looked > a bit confused but interested as I tried to > explain the premise! I think only about another 2 - 3 months max for Noises Off. We bought tickets for Ladykillers at the Leicester Sq TCKTs booth and they had some Noises Off tickets at discount.

We're on a comedy kick at present - Noise Off last week is a master class in comic timing and highly recommended. Equally good last night, but it closes next weekend, The Ladykillers - directed by Sean Foley who created the sublime "The Play Wot I Wrote" ten years ago it uses the Ealing film as a starting point but was an evening of belly laughs. The set is fantastic and Peter Capaldi truly brilliant as a comic actor on stage. Next week Sweeney Todd - going over to the dark side. Still have to catch "one Man Two Guvenors".

"Razors" - apologies but with a name like that you may well be this notorious Scottish gangster?

Rosie, Depends how far you want to travel for wild rabbit - there's a butcher in Kingston, not too far from the hospital, that used to serve all kinds of wild meat - including squirrel, hare and rabbit. Note sure of name tho'.

A friend of mine walked half of it a few years back and is planning to finish the rest this year. One point he made was that by walking, generally south west for a few weeks he arrived at his end point with a good tan on this left hand side and significantly less of a tan on his right hand side.

Herons - we've seen our pond lose all its fish (10 of them) and almost all its frogspawn to a heron that discovered the pond last year. 6 years of no heron and now it regards our garden as its larder. Nothing seems to stop him - wires, mock herons, bells - we've tried them all.

I believe you can eat chorizo straight from the supplier - or cook it. I certainly do. I'm still heer.

TRavelled to London by bus to see matinee "Noises Off" at the Novello Theatre, came home cooked good meal using local ingredients all purchased on Lordship Lane. Great day - easy transport, London Theatre, good meal.

Many years ago I campaigned against Peter Tatchell (and his moustache) and in favour of Simon Hughes. Over time I have grown to respect Peter Tatchell for his robust and common sense stance on a number of issues (except his desire to "out" homosexuals who prefer to remain private) and come to despise Simon Hughes for his opportunist and incoherent politics. I particularly agree with his commentss on Rowan Williams recent statements on the danger of focussing exclusively on identity politics. Reductio ad absurdum, identity poltics would make the world 7 billion individual statelets with no relationship to or responsbility for any other statelet. How can we find a way that allows and recognises the individual's individuality without having to break up a larger community in doing so. Ghettos of all kinds should be abhorred and the joining together of factions welcomed.

Saw Hunger Games last night - OK "ish". Only went as in strange town with nothing very much to do. Passed two hours but was strangely univolved - the story didn't ever click. The original book may have been too big and too detailed to compress into a two hour movie. Wanted to see Wild Bill - but have to wait for that.

Every party, every government, so many politicians. As you say not surprising - except perhaps the politician's inability to learn from the past. For me it supports an argument for small government.

jelly & marshmallow toasted over an open fire - yum, yum. Jelly on here _ waste of space

A central tenet of the Islamic faith is charity - in its original sense of love and care for others and particularly others in need of help. Because an idiot who happens to be a Muslim gets it wrong is no reason to malign an entire faith and the good it does. Paedophile priests are evil, but not everything the Catholic church does is evil. Your post is almost as ignorant and s*** stirring as the ill educated idiot reported in the cutting. MM - atheist since 1964.

Will it affect the cost of my Pol Roger, 25 year old Highland Park?

I agree the need for the reduction (and no, I am not in that tax bracket). However, I'm not sure it is politically naive - yes lots of, predictable, noise and bluster from Labour on the move but by next year's Budget it'll be history and by the time of the next Election will be long done history. Had he delayed the reduction to next year it could have still been used by Labour as a stick to beat the Coalition with come the election.

How close to the coal face do you want me to be? In the NHS I've managed IT, complaints, contracting, GP practices, Nursing Homes inspections, patient transport, Clinical directorates (Cardiac, General Surgery, Urology etc), Sterile Services, medical records, been responsible for the Trust estate and HSAW, project managed major developments and been a Director on a Trust Board. In the private sector I've managed two hospitals directly, been a regional director respopnsible for the clinical and financial performance of 17 hospitals, led a project to build a hospital overseas, been a director on a number of PFI SPV Boards, overseen the management of 4 hospitals in the Middle East, been a Non Exec director for a company providing FAcilities Management to 85 hospitals in Malaysia. I have spent much of the last twenty years working with nurses, doctors of all grades from trainee to Consultants and academic professors to improve services to patients. I am neither a nurse or a doctor but armed with the above experience, I can take the temperature of most hospitals I walk into and gauge their effectiveness, the quality of services and the calibre of management very quickly. Believe me - I do want a better and more efficient NHS, mostly because I know how inefficient it really is.

UDT - your standard of debate maintains its usual mixture of abuse and lies. In common with your fellow travellers you seem unable to present an argument setting out your case for blocking reform. As I have said before I have no financial interest in the outcome of the Bill. I do have an interest in seeing an improved and more efficient NHS. Your continued insinuation that I am motivated by money is insulting, boring and libellous.

I won 4 tckts for semi final hockey - wanted 100m final. I'm pretty sure that the distribution of tckts averages out across the country - and even if you watch it on TV at least it's in local time.

Chippy Minton Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > You'd be willing to bet! Well no kidding! Not a > particularly a long shot when the OP actually > provided a link to Unison's website is it! Indeed - but LL did not acknowledge his union affiliation, has not presented any evidence for his claims, posed as a regular EDF user wanting to discuss when in fact he wanted to propagadise a one sided view held by vested interests opposed to change. Classic infiltration tactics so often used by the left to mask their real agenda and skew debate. Noise and volume do not a debate make.

Why not stay and watch the Olympics. It's unlikely to come to London again for 50 years. Is a couple of grand worth more to you than being part of a genuine one off experience?

I would further add that I'd be willing to bet a substantial sum that LordshipLang the OP (2 posts - single subject) was inspired by a union flyer, website or meeting to raise the subject. Travelling the country I've seen a number of "Save our NHS" campaigns using surprisingly similar phrases and arguments - arguments taken from Unison and other anti change literature. I've made my argument in favour of the Bill (now passed into law) but the various opponents have not been able to muster a case - apart from the fact that a lot of vested interest groups are against it and that, with no evidence or rational argument, they believe private sector involvement in healthcare to be wrong.

What a nasty and suspicious person you are. I was born and brought up in London and have lived here on and off over the last 50+ years. In the 50's I caught buses and tubes, went to the Children's Exhibition with other school friends, went on Green Rover trips, got drunk in Soho and elsewhere as a young man, went to dodgy pubs at strange hours, wandered dark streets at night and I have always, always found that assuming the best and expecting the best pays dividends. This has stood me in good stead in some really dodgy spots (Harlem in the 70's; Amsterdam docks, Glasgow on a Saturday night in the 70s). Only a few years back my then 11 year old son caught the wrong train back from school and became completely lost in South London and ran out of juice on his mobile phone - a stranger recognised his uniform, asked what the problem was, bought him a cola, sat him down in a cafe and rang home to advise of the problem. They then stayed with my son until I arrived to collect him, buying yet more cola and biscuits and refusing all recompense from me when I arrived. That's the sort of London I inhabit and the sort of London most of us inhabit. Suspicion engenders suspicion and damages community relations. Be nice and people will, usually, be nice back to you. Mark you it does perhaps help to be 6'5" and well built :)