Loz

Comment in the Gruniad the other day... Thatcher turned all the polys into universities... then Blair turned all the universities into polytechnics!

It doesn't generally have to be a Blackberry specific charger. In my experience nything with a mini-usb connection will do the job. I've used the missus' Motorola charger and also the USB-MiniUSB cable from my laptop to charge my BB.

wjfox Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > david_carnell Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > The survivors (one in six) will be those who > are > > fully prepared in advance, in my view. > > > > What, exactly, should I be doing to be fully > > prepared. > > Move to the countryside. Buy a house with solar > panels and good insulation. Grow your own food, > stock up on seeds, etc. The get murdered by the have nots for your food.

wjfox Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Townleygreen Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I've been worried about this for years. > > > > The Oil Drum website is very scary in places. > > > > > Indeed... > > http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6924 > > Long article, but well worth reading. A great argument for cutting Child Benefit??!!

To answer Jeremy's question: a) It rarely solves the actual problem and people end up paying ?80 a year for effectively nothing b) CPZs generally come with a lot of white bay markings and yellow lines that actually reduce the amount of parking on offer c) The have a big effect on businesses where parking for non-locals is reduced to very low levels. Having said all that, I rather like the Herne Hill arrangement - Pay and Display or resident's pass for the hours of 12 to 2 weekdays. Few yellow lines and no individual marked bays. It solves the 'all day commuter' problem, whilst reducing the other negative issues of CPZs. Like Ratty, I have an off-street parking bay, so I've no axe to grind here. It's just that I've never seen a full-on CPZ work and, once in, the damned things are impossible to get rid of. Be careful of what you wish for, people.

To buy a new Viz Top Tips book?

Kettle. Otherwise your pot gets wet and won't burn properly.

Mark Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's the nicknames of the two founders. I'm not sure which I'd dislike more: being referred to as 'Fresh' or 'Pies'.

A man enters the confessional. "Forgive me father, for I have sinned", he said. "Last week my wife was bending over trying to get a chicken out of the freezer and... well, I was overcome with lust and I had sexual relations with her there and then." The priest said, "My son, you are married in the sight of God - sexual relations with your wife is not a sin". The man sounded relieved, "You mean... ", he said, "... you aren't going to kick us out of the church?". "No my son.", came the reply, "Why would you think that?". The man said, "Well, they kicked us out of Sainsburys..."

Brendan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Loz Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > It doesn't actually cost much and provides a > > pretty good service for the money. And just > > consider the alternatives... > > Giving the royal family free run of Buckingham > palace and paying them a stipend of a few million > quid a year plus expenses in order to perform > their constitutional duties would represent value > for money. Allowing the Crown and select group of > aristocrats to own almost 70% of the country does > not. You are extending the concept of monarchy to something that would not change in the event of GB becoming a republic. The annual upkeep of the monarchy is in the millions. Replacing it with an elected President would cost roughly the same, minus the tourist pulling money. And do you think Britain's interests are best served by a visit to (insert name of country we are trying to impress) by the Queen or President Tony Blair? Also, you can bet that the upcoming wedding will be a (big) net plus to the economy.

Good point HAL - I say the monarchy is safe, but should William have a nasty helicopter accident, the resulting constitutional crisis could actually bring the monarchy down. Unless, of course, the white Fiat makes a reappearance...

You probably don't heat your house or cook with oil, anyway.

HAL9000 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What are the odds: The Queen abdicates, the > succession skips Charles and William becomes King > soon after the euphoria of the wedding? I agree with MP - pretty much zero. And nor should it, I believe. I mean, the poor bloke has been waiting all his life for the job and I think he'll do it just fine. Charles will be almost certainly about 70 when he takes the throne, so he will not hold onto it for a great deal of time, anyway. I am 50/50 monarchist - not good for Australia, but the system works for Britain pretty well and I cannot see it being abolished here any time soon. It doesn't actually cost much and provides a pretty good service for the money. And just consider the alternatives...

Brendan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Quite but I have recently become the founding > member of the Royal Society of Middleclass > Communist... Is that connected to the International Order of Champagne Socialists?

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It's a good job she's not from the nobility, the > royal family probably need to expand their gene > pool a little bit. I thought Diana already did that with Harry?

Parking permits/CPZs generally mean less total parking as lots more yellow lines come into play. Paying lots of money for less parking never seems like a good deal.

You mean CCTV? Not safer then, just taped for later viewing.

I remember being told there was leas than 20 years oil left... about 35 years ago. The human race is reliant on energy, not oil and gas.

felt-tip Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > he has finally capitulated has he? she is already > getting a bit munty. she wont age well. You reckon? I think she's a much more natural beauty than her mum-in-law-to-be-that-was. She doesn't need a nose job, for a start. At least William, unlike Charles, got to choose the woman he marries.

DJKillaQueen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > And you forget there's a very good > reason why protest was less under Labour. Errm... because they made it illegal to protest within 1km of Parliament Square, perhaps?

HAL9000 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > And they are often exploited via foreign diplomatic bags! They prefer to be called "Madam Ambassador", thank you.

As another LibDem voter, I can see the students' point, but didn't Labour do pretty much the same thing (sans silly pledge) twice to the students? Not sure the NUS fielding it's own candidate will work - under FPTP it just takes votes out of the system. Unless they know that either a) most students voted LibDem or b) only the LibDem voting students will change their vote then it may not have the effect they hoped for. It's a shame, really - as Townleygreen pointed out, the new system is much fairer but the headlines are not reflecting this, only the raising of the cap.

No kitchen? Own a car? A couple of times round the block should do it. Cruise-Control Pork Tenderloin, anyone?

louisiana Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Talisker was my first malt love, and Highland Park > is excellent too. For me: Ardbeg, Ardbeg and Ardbeg. Though not necessarily in that order.

I think I am in a rather purile mood... Watching a rerun of Black Books last night and something in the credits made me laugh.