Loz

Unless the person is a convicted shop lifter, it is a witch hunt. Your argument is no different to huncamunca's, if you say "We'll plaster this person's picture up as a suspected paedo. It'll be alright - he'll complain if we are wrong."

May I propose a simple test? 1) Take a survey of car regs at 10am 2) Again at 5pm on the same day 3) Again at 9pm on the same day Repeat over a number of days (for statistical accuracy). The number of cars that are there at 1 AND 2, but NOT 3, as a percentage of the total number of cars the street holds should start to give you an idea of the problem. Not perfect, but a start.

Yeah, like that Atila bloke...

James, I suppose the crux of the matter is: are the parking problems caused by commuters? If so, a Herne Hill system may work. If not, it will just be an expense and a PITA for no gain at all. In other words: do we know what the problem is?

Careful now.

You could do with reading lessons, Tarot. It was me that likened your rant to that of a taxi driver - not it has to be said, you with a taxi driver.

Sorry, I don't buy that. Yes, some people got more money than others, but the greed was widespread across Ireland and the UK. Like the UK, everyone that could jumped onto the gravy train (or, in Ireland, upon the Celtic tiger's back). I'm sure that house prices were talked about at dinner parties across Dublin. Whilst banks have to take a good proportion of the blame, the little guy/girl on the street was happy to play along while the money was coming in and credit readily available. Now the manure has hit the air-conditioning unit, it's all "not my fault - damn bankers". Sorry - we are all to blame for this mess. (Disclaimers: I am not a banker. I do not work for a bank. I do have a couple of bank accounts and a mortgage, though.)

Pitchforks at dawn! (tu)

Tarot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What is a mystery is why did Eire, join up with > "The Union", Why were there all the troubles with > the English, death and destruction, not to be > ruled by them, and wanting unifiacation. Then just > agree to be ruled by some inadaquate, so called > Union of Europe. Its a crumbling tower, and when > they sort through the ruins, we will see all the > little fat rats ( E.M.Ps) in the papers.) Tony > Blairs made his fortune and moved on. after > signing our U.K away without even a referendem. > That was not democratic. OK, I'll bite. How exactly did Tony Blair "sign the UK away"? What powers did he give away? Which part of the UK "Constitution" required a referendum? How many people ever read the Maastrict treaty? Why doesn't anyone vote UKIP? The EU and the Euro has it's (many) flaws, but at the heart of it is a good idea. Small is not beautiful in world markets. The EU is our biggest trading partner and UK businesses have to contend with currency variations, which puts them at a competitive disadvantage in that it leaves them with extra costs as they have to hedge the Euro. There are many argument both for and against the EU/Euro. A taxi driver's rant really doesn't cover any of them.

Also I like John Farnham's version of 'Help', which Katie Weasel murdered on the X Factor on Saturday. I think I'm gonna cop some flak for this choice!

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Umbrella is just such a coverable classic. The Manic's version of Umbrella was excellent, but I love this version:

Just completed the survey - and it was a drudge. Really long questions/answers and half way through I nearly bailed out. So badly designed.

Many thanks to everyone for their suggestions. One very pertinent fact I missed is that he is in Australia (where hospital permanent residence is not unusual), so whilst any London/UK services are probably no good, I will be checking to find their Australian equivalent. gwod/MickMac: iPad... nice idea. Shall look into it. He's *very* non-techie, so that might be OK.

Applespider Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Any kind of crafts that he might be interested in? > Woodturning perhaps if he was a DIY lover? > Pottery/sculpture? Woodturning would be perfect - however the hospital might just get a little upset if I installed a lathe in his room!

Nice idea, but too late, WoD. I've just got a nice lady in that specialises in personal histories to capture all his memories. I'm expecting the final version sometime next month.

huncamunca Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Theres a bloke down the street, been seen outside > the school twice - ive got a pic of him - is it OK > to plaster the local lamposts with his mugshot and > declare him a peadophile ? > > Obviously hes nevr been convicted or arrested for > this offence, but Im assuming from the replies to > this thread that we are all up for a bit of > this...yes ? Too good for him. It's pitchforks and torches at dawn...

The first series of Heroes was good, but it went downhill after that.

Huguenot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The length of time is probably as much to do with > practical implementation as principle: in order > for it to work drivers would have to have a > reasonable expectation of being caught. > > For example, if it took 20 wardens to police all > the roads in a 30 minute window, it would only > take 5 wardens to police all the roads in a two > hour window. If you then decided that the cut-off > point for motorists was a 50:50 chance of getting > caught you'd only need to do half the roads on > alternate days, cutting the requirement to 2. > > Since the wardens are part funded by the residents > permit fee, the larger the time window, the > cheaper the permit. But that has the underlying expectation that a large percentage of infringers on any one day must be caught. If you went for a 30 min window and patrolled about 20% of the area in any one day then a commuter would expect to be ticketed at least once a week on average. Any "hit spots" could be given extra patrols. That would still provide the necessary deterrent whilst minimising the time of the zone and therefore minimising the impact on local people. And also minimising the cost to the council.

My dad is 85 and just been moved full time to hospital as he can't walk any more. He was always an outdoors type (mainly gardening and DIY) and has never really liked reading or watching TV. He is, unsurprisingly, bored, bored, bored. I'm trying to think of a present I can buy him to keep him occupied. My missus thought of some kind of Airfix kit or similar, but I fear that his eyesight may not be up to doing the fiddly little pieces. So, I thought I pass it on to the wisdom of the EDF crowd. Any ideas?

Well, on the bright side, you've found the release for your caps-lock.

Bicep_Builder Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > OH LORDY WE CAN'T GO HURTING SHOPLIFTERS FEELINGS > WHATEVER CAN WE DO WHAT A PICKLE Ever thought of applying for the job as chief headline writer for the Daily Mail?

Bicep_Builder Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Anyone who didn't vote Tory this time around is > clearly pretty daft anyway. Brown was broken > (eager to capitulate after, and who could blame > him?) and the Lib Dems have always been as useless > as a chocolate teapot. They're only really any > good as human shields; a role which Cameron has > employed them hilariously effectively. The problem is that there are are a significant number of people that, if they were offered an election choice between: a) The Tories b) Hitler c) Satan d) Having your right leg amputated would rule out choice (a) first.

Huguenot Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > No, it was from the survey that we ran on this > forum. If you check paragraph two, the clue is in > the phrase "we ran a CPZ survey on this forum". > > The full results were distributed at the time on > this forum, so they'll still be here somewhere. > I'll have a look and see if I still have a copy. > > Don't worry too much though Loz, because the > survey was run on the forum, there's still plenty > of scope to say that you don't believe/accept the > data, that the sample size isn't representative, > or that people were lying etc. > > Which group are you in BTW? Is it as a resident on > one of the affected roads, one of the peeps who > make use of the affected roads on trips to LL or > the station, or a local trader? I declared my status waaay earlier in the thread. I live about 5 mins from the station, but have an off-road parking space. And you should have the survey results - a little search failed to find the results, but did uncover that you yourself set it up. It was in March 2008. The big problem with CPZs is that people grab them in the old "Something must be done. This is something..." solution-hunting mode. CPZs rarely solve the problem at hand and, more often than not exacerbates it. But time and time again is is put forward as the one and only solution.

purplecatkimi Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hey my friend has just started a website called > electric ladylounge. It gives lots of advice. > Check it out. Kimi x Electric Ladygarden would have been a funnier name.

Sorry - I call "bull****" on this. Is this based on figures from the council (and if so where are the full set) or did you just make them up because it sounded good?