Otta

DaveR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There's obviously though a middle ground between > "personal aesthetic tastes" and danger to > health/property I just don't get where the danger is. It's a run down shop front with flaky paint.

I love stories like this. Candy-stripe house redesign makes Kensington neighbours see red http://gu.com/p/47gve?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

And plenty of British builders were more than happy to illegally pay immigrants peanuts whilst they made plenty. Hypocrisy.

Very sad http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/34798929

Townleygreen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > for information, the Freedom Pass isn't given to > 60+, but you get it when you get the state pension > now - roughly when you're 66 I believe. I just checked the site, and you're right, for a London freedom pass you need to be 66. Although they've now done this for which you get the same benefits and need to be 60 and live in London to qualify. https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/adult-discounts-and-concessions/60-london-oyster?cid=60pluslondon

According to The Apprentice it's propa posh innit.

Booooo!!!! But fair enough, not the club's fault.

My impression was that there would be no more Bussey building, or certainly no more club nights.

Uncomfortable as it may be, I see some truth in KK's post. Not saying white working class lads don't want to work and just want benefits, but I do think it's fair to say that as a rule they lack the aspiration of other groups. University fees probably haven't helped either.

The difference is that disabled people have already taken several hits either directly or indirectly. Personally I know that I am very lucky to have my pass and could manage without it (although it would make a huge difference financially). But this isn't about me or you. I am not saying no one over 60 is struggling, I'm saying plenty aren't, so why shouldn't they be affected to? I don't agree with the "they've done the right thing all their lives so why should they get hit" argument. What about the children who've done nothing wrong but are suffering? If you are not even of retirement age, why should you get a free travel pass? I'm not anti older people by the way, I am just suggesting an area that could be looked at, as it's unclear how much more can be saved from other services.

I do have one (disabled). And I am not saying it would be popular, and also glad you have to apply now. But if savings have to be found from somewhere then I am sure the older generation would rather lose the bus pass than their pension. Believe me, I'd much rather that there was no need to cut anything, but as a local authority employee directly involved in trying to hack away at a service, I am fed up with seeing all the vulnerable groups hit hardest. Many many over 60s are not vulnerable.

LondonMix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > What's a freedom pass exactly? Is it pre-paid > travel on public transport? Yes, it's a travel pass that works like an Oyster on buses tubes, trams and trains (after 9:30) in London. Not sure what services you get outside of London. There are 2 types, the disabled persons pass, which you can have at any age if you have a qualifying disability, and the older person's, which you get aged 60. I can't imagine they'd go after the disabled one given that they've already been so crticised for hitting the disabled hard. But surely there is some scope for reviewing the older person's one. I mean 60 is no longer old, and the retirement age has gone up over the years so I think it should be in line with that.

I'm interested to know what is spent by local authorities on older people's freedom passes. Not sugesting they should be cut altogether, but I think they should be reviewed. At very least you should activbely have to apply for one, otherwise you get thousands of over 60s who have them and never use them.

Made me laugh.

Haha, I just googled "the dips blackheath" and judging by the first few results it's quite a popular cruising site for the gay community. I guess it's a bit heath, plenty of room for gay cruising and drunk teenagers.

Huggers Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Otta the Dips thing is still going strong! Really? Awesome. I was going back 20+ years, nice to hear an old tradition has endured. Remember snogging a really pretty girl from JAGS there once, and being surrounded by a circle of pissed up teens in order to sheild us form the filth, thus making us glaringly obvious to the filth. All made perfect sense at the time. Happy daze.

Blah Blah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Noted that there is no reply to the excellent > reply from the leader of his council. In the original article http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/13948252.David_Cameron_clashes_with_council_over_cuts_to_frontline_services/ it quotes the council leader as saying "I don?t want to comment on leaked private correspondence that wasn?t intended for publication. What I can say is that these letters are part of an on-going discussion with government about how we can protect frontline services while doing our bit in Oxfordshire to tackle the national budget deficit ? a government policy that I support. To do this, we are having to make some very difficult decisions, which is why we are consulting the public on all the options.? Basically he's a Cameron ally who is probably gutted this has been leaked. I suspect he has no big problem with the cuts he's made, just that Cameron questioned how he was doing it when he was playing at local MP for an afternoon. BBC Now have the story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34788129 And yet Downing Street insists "There is still significant scope for sensible savings across local government to be made by back office consolidation, disposing of surplus property and joining up our local public services;"

Blah Blah Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I don't see anything wrong with moralising about 5k blown on a wedding dress. Except that 1. ?5k wasn't blown on a dress, it was just "worth" that. 2. The dress was then donated to charity so that some money could be raised for a good cause (as well as someone else getting to have the dress for their wedding, although by your logic you'd question their values too for wearing a ?5k dress, even if they'd got it for a couple of hundred in a charity shop). 3. This thread was never meant to be about wedding dresses. 4. NewWave posted to highlight the breast cancer aspect, and you totally eclipsed that, so bravo. But no, I don't think you'll ever see anything wrong with anything you ever say, however many other people suggest that you're wrong. And for that reason I won't comment further because it's the online equivalent of repeatedly headbutting a brick wall.

It was an obvious exaggeration and joke. Not a sneer. But I think when someone said "It nevers helps reasoned debate when you appear to come across as moralising in a discussion" they were spot on, and that it's you that put people off of contributing to this thread for fear of having their values questioned by you. I won't lie, that comment about questioning NewWave's values really annoyed me. I don't know NewWave from Adam, but for me you have been bang out of order here.

It doesn't surprise me that these MPs wouldn't understand the fallout on a real family level. But the fact that they don't even seem to have a clue about the figures involved is a real worry.

When I was around 15 there was a regular "party" in Blackheath at "the point" or "the dips" (one being Point Hill the other being part of the heath where there are lots of dips - clue in the name). Basically loads of kids (of the more long haired indie / rocky persuasion) from the likes of Aske's, JAGS (yep, even the posh birds), Blackheath High, Thomas Tallis would all converge and drink lots whilst trying to get off with someone. Every week the police would turn up and try to move everyone on. Once or twice I remember it getting slightly nasty, but that was because a pissed up teenager would get in the face of the filth. For the most part they'd just say "come on, it's late and people are complaining about the noise" and we'd all grumble as we sloutched off. Twas ever thus. God they were fun nights.

Loz Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Worst (and completely unnecessary) cover version: > American Pie - Madonna. That was bad. As was Cheryl Crow's Sweet child. The Bowie / Jagger vid is probably the worst ever music video. I can't think of anything that can match it in terms of pure cringe worthy rubbishness, but there have been some ludicrous ones over the years. As a teenager I loved the big budget extravagant Guns n' roses videos to songs like "November Rain". I look at them now and cringe. The "Don't Cry" vid is still pretty cool though.

NewWave Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Wrap-up London is a superb campaign. > Its true that a warm coat can save a life. > I'm wholeheartedly behind it. > I donated last year and I'll look through my > cupboards this year. I hope you spent no more than a tenner on your coat, or your values will be called in to question.

Not according to this. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/11/david-cameron-letter-cuts-oxfordshire?CMP=share_btn_fb

Who said that?