oimissus

It?s not complex at all, but trans rights activists want us to think it is. Humans can?t change sex. A post-pubertal male retains huge physical advantage over females regardless of whatever medication he?s taking and should not compete against women. ?We? is society as a whole. Such is society?s disdain for women that somewhere along the line it was thought that as women don?t really matter it?s fine for the odd man to call himself a woman, no harm done.

A while ago I started a thread about Nini Manumua, a young women athlete who lost out on competing for New Zealand in the Olympics thanks to a man, Laurel Hubbard taking a spot on New Zealand?s women?s weightlifting team. Some people understood the point I was making, others thought I was being mean. Today Lia (formerly Will) Thomas has won yet another women?s swimming race in the US, beating, among other, the Olympic silver medalist. Thomas is a man. There are heartbreaking videos and podcasts from women trying to compete against this man, from their mums struggling to understand how this is happening. It?s happening because we?ve let it happen. We?ve decided the word woman doesn?t have to mean anything in particular, so women?s sports, among many other things, don?t matter either. In this country Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens and the SNP support self ID. What is it going to take for people to realise that this is not right? Not safe? Not fair?

Just a quick heads up to let people know that Kings have starting vaccinating this age group.

Just a quick heads up to let people know that Kings have started doing vaccines for this age group.

*Sephiroth* - you?ve answered your own question - because good communication skills are really important. Good people may not be heard because they don?t have these skills. I know nothing about Vanessa Feltz, and I never said I liked her. I simply commented on her speaking. I don?t think you really understand the point of this thread.

Not a politician but I remember once hearing Vanessa Feltz on the radio and she spoke amazingly - went of on several tangents but not an 'um' or 'er' anywhere and the whole thing was coherent when it could easily have been a mess. Anyway - also not a politician, though an ex- politician - Rory Stewart. Re Gove, I'm going to salute him for his current work in getting responsibility for the cladding scandal away from tenant and hone-owners and where it should be.

I never whined about the introduction of this charge, especially as I knew then that the cost was considerably less that other councils charge. Spartacus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I love the fact that 2 years ago everyone was > whineing about the introduction of changes to what > was a free service > > Now people are saying how good value it is > compared to other boroughs. > > Short memories?

Agreed. My mother lived in an outer London borough and she was paying ?75 a year for garden waste collection, and that was a few years ago. I got my new sticker yesterday. IlonaM Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Quite a quick turnaround. Paid on 26th Feb and got > my sticker in post today. ?40 is pretty good in > comparison to what some councils charge around the > country. My mother pays ?65 a year for a > fortnightly collection in Brighton & Hove, for > example.

As I suggested in your other thread, the headteacher of your daughter?s primary school should be able to help as they will have plenty of experience of this. I don?t think this is something you can just pay someone else to do.

Thanks Janet - I?ve been using the website which is just awful. I want to swim fairly early in the morning and as I have a child to get ready for school it?s not really s9mething last minute I can arrange - night before at the latest, which I haven?t succeeded at yet!

When my daughter was a baby 12 years ago, this board was really active and almost a rival to national forums like Mumsnet. Now it's cluttered up with ads (there's a Family Room Classified board for that kind of thing - would be great if Admin could shunt all the ads over there) and very little discussion. Why is that? Do new parents not know it exists?

And yes - you must accept the school you've been given. If you don't then the local authority do not have to provide you with a place. And see if you can have a look around Sydenham if you haven't already.

You should talk to your daughter's current headteacher, they will be able to advise you as to whether an appeal is appropriate and how to approach it if it is. You should also contact either your local authority or the schools in question to see where you are on the waiting lists. Remember that Kingsdale is a lottery and also banded. There will be a lot of movement between now and September. We looked (and applied for) Sydenham School, we were pretty impressed.

I do wonder about that - they say that if you're booked in for the, say, 7.30-8.30 slot, but you'd actually get there at 8.15, you'd have to book (and pay for) 2 slots to swim for half an hour or so.

I think that?s what must be happening - people book their next swim in person once they?re there - which is fine, just harder to get a foot in the door in the first place, and I want to go in the mornings which seem to be very booked up.

I would love to know if anyone would take towels as I?ve just replaced a lot of ours. They?re in pretty good nick.

I am happy to donate but I?m wondering if this is all a bit premature - I know many hundreds of thousands have left Ukraine but I assume they will want to return as soon as possible - am I being unduly optimistic that Putin will be brought to his senses sooner rather than later?

The other morning I was (unusually) driving past Honor Oak station in the rush hour - the main road was closed off and the traffic was diverted down some very tight side roads. It took me about 40 minutes to get through (and an ambulance was stuck in all this traffic squeezing down narrow side streets with lots of parks cars and vans). The whole thing could have been alleviated if the 2 side streets off the diversion, which had movable barriers blocking them off to vehicle traffic, could have been opened for the duration of the road works. Complete lack of joined-up thinking. (Sorry, not entirely relevant but I?ve been wanting to get that off my chest for a while!)

Thanks @bonaome for the info for Jags and DC.

JAGS pool is open to the public. Don't know about Alleyns.

Ah, right. That would explain it. Just tried to search for swimming sessions at Camberwell, absolutely hopeless. However, I'd rather not have to wait till April to go for a swim! Will have to just do it old school and ring up or pitch up in person.

Yes, I'll definitely contact Head Office. Does anyone know who at the council is in charge of leisure centres? Nigello Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes, easy to go to Camberwell perhaps but unless > you complain they won't be aware of your > dissatisfaction. The more who write in the better. > Please do it. Thanks. (Speaking to a receptionist > at a centre really won't do anything.)

Thanks all - I'll check out Camberwell as I can get there just as easily as Dulwich. Such a shame that people are being forced to abandon swimming. When I last spoke to someone at EA (in a centre, not head office) I was just told it would carry on like this until [insert vague and unspecified time in the future].

Is it normal for every lane swimming session to be fully booked a week in advance? I've only just rejoined and I don't seem to be able to book a morning weekday swim at all! I'm also finding the website and booking system very difficult to use. Any tips?

Thanks for sharing, Rockets.