blinder999

Brendan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How about just NOT LETTING PEOPLE BORROW MORE THAN > THEY HAVE AGREED?!?!?!?! Instead of trying to > profit by taking money from people because they > don?t have money. Can you not see the problem with > that concept? I am much happier with the system as it is, because, if (for whatever reason) my salary didn't end up in my account one month, I wouldn't end up defaulting on my mortgage. No need to shout by the way.

mockney piers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Must be nice in that ivory tower there Quids. I also have never paid a bank charge in my life, as I have always stuck to pre-arranged lending limits. I do not think pointing this out means I'm in an ivory tower. I think they're right to have punitive charges in place - discouraging people from borrowing more than has been agreed is a good idea. It certainly makes me very careful about what I spend. If the banks are no longer allowed to profit from these charges, I think it's a fair assumption they will try and make up the money elsewhere - by charging us all for other services.

this from section 72 of the 1835 Highways Act? "...a person shall be guilty of an offence if he ...shall wilfully lead or drive any carriage of any description upon any such footpath or causeway."

Spice Republic has nice carrier bags too - and a loyalty scheme for us frugal tightwad types.

> don't buy a running > machine until you are running regularly and fancy > taking it indoors. Don't buy a bike until you are > enjoying riding the bike you have borrowed from a > neighbour. Don't buy the workout DVD until you are > regularly enjoying doing starjumps and fancy a > programme. But Charlie, surely the key activity here is eating the bread? Which presumably, anyone who's thinking about buying a breadmaker is likely to be doing already on a daily basis.

haha we had a very similar cocktail experience there. Clueless girl randomly pouring in loads of booze.

serve it up with some ready-washed and chopped veg and a part-baked baguette from Somerfield for the full professional gourmet treat

Blair's government chucked a fair amount of money at education and health, two key issues for many of us, but if you're a child-free healthy adult male, you will be unlikely to have noticed the improvements in schools and hospitals. I am fairly confident that if the Tories had stayed in power, they would have continued to starve schools and the NHS of cash, and my kids' births, operations, and education would not have been nearly so positive. So I wouldn't say they failed to achieved anything. I think the warmongering Yankee lapdog brought about tangible improvements in health and education.

yes, I'm frugal - looking on ebay right now

Pedestrians who step into the road right into the path of my bicycle outside Vauxhall Station every morning without even looking, despite the red man/green light. See also: Victoria Station, and in fact, everywhere between ED and Kensington (6).

sean it's the re-release I'm talking about - with the acoustic cd - I guess you haven't heard it

Though the curries taste good, the naan and the popadoms are a disappointment at BBC. We're sticking with Spice Republic.

When I asked the waitress in Franklins if I could have another beer, she said 'Dya wanna pass me the empty one?' This really irritated me.

> what would happen if they killed a > fox? The first time it happens, I think you're required to smear your kids' cheeks with the fox's blood http://www.henrysalt.co.uk/bs_blooding.htm

Crystal Palace Tavern is still child-free

> Re-Release of the year is EASY - Fatima Mansions > "Viva Dead Ponies" - sleeve notes by the wonderful > writer Andre Mueller can be found here beg to differ - I haven't heard this, but have you heard the re-release of Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen? Was interested to note that both bands were on Kitchenware though!

a great read indeed - but what kind of pen *does* one buy for the working classes?

Old Boy, Christmas Eve, Channel 4. Most excellent Korean craziness.

PeckhamRose Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The ENglish band XTC did a fab song called DEAR > GOD. That was banned in Bible belt and made them > stars in America. About 1987. I appeared in the > video too! Is that you up in the tree?

I love XTC!

> There are people in the UK doing that already - no > need to go anywhere else not in any mainstream media - including red tops etc. Of course, if you were to trawl a bit, you could find any loathsome opinion you like in this country.

Though I support your contempt for the 'political correctness gone mad' brigade, I think you're being disingenuous in denying the distinction Sean - it doesn't help the argument to pretend the concept doesn't exist. I have to say this retrospective bowdlerisation of Fairytale of New York is the best/worst of example of 'political correctness gone mad' I've heard in a while - and I think it's unproductive for us liberal hand-wringing types to deny that.

As I recall it, the term Political Correctness wasn't coined by right wingers - I remember it being used in the eighties as a positive notion re: protecting minorities - but right wingers started using it as an insult very soon afterwards - because demonising minorities was part of their ideology. Cameron and co are still trying to shake off this legacy today, because for most of us, 'political correctness' has in fact made us look at the way we treat other people, and has had a huge positive effect. I expect in Jamaica, there are people hearing about people in the UK protesting about Buju Banton's homophobic lyrics, shaking their heads and saying 'political correctness gone mad'

surely Sean, all the examples you've given are examples of censorship, where the mainstream (or at least, a powerful group within the mainstream eg religious types in the US) seeks to maintain the status quo. The political correctness accusation kicks in when the censors are attempting to protect a minority - and in doing so, are often seeking to change the status quo - ie new protections for minorities.

just got my 'Legacy' version of Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen. The 8-track bonus CD is stunning - Paddy McAloon's re-recorded 8 of the songs in unplugged-stylee, and his voice is even better than twenty years ago. So great to hear him do justice to these great songs after all these years.